Sample records for acutely hospitalised medical

Full Text Available Abstract Background Sepsis is an infection which has evoked a systemic inflammatory response. Clinically, the Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS is identified by two or more symptoms including fever or hypothermia, tachycardia, tachypnoea and change in blood leucocyte count. The relationship between SIRS symptoms and morbidity and mortality in medical emergency ward patients is unknown. Methods We conducted a prospective cohort study of the frequency of SIRS and its relationship to sepsis and death among acutelyhospitalisedmedical patients. In 437 consecutive patients, SIRS status, blood pressure, infection and comorbidity on admission was registered together with 28-day mortality. Results A hundred and fifty-four patients (35% had SIRS on admission, 211 patients (48% had no SIRS, and 72 patients (16% had insufficient data to evaluate their SIRS status. SIRS patients were 2.2 times more frequently infected, with 66/154 SIRS patients versus 41/211 non-SIRS patients: p Conclusion We found SIRS status on admission to be moderately associated with infection and strongly related to 28-day mortality.

Abstract Background Sepsis is an infection which has evoked a systemic inflammatory response. Clinically, the Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) is identified by two or more symptoms including fever or hypothermia, tachycardia, tachypnoea and change in blood leucocyte count. The relationship between SIRS symptoms and morbidity and mortality in medical emergency ward patients is unknown. Methods We conducted a prospective cohort study of the frequency of SIRS and its relationship t...

To examine the prevalence and incidence of patient-reported symptoms of constipation in acutelyhospitalisedmedical patients.......To examine the prevalence and incidence of patient-reported symptoms of constipation in acutelyhospitalisedmedical patients....

In conclusion, elderly hospitalised patients form a patient group that is at higher risk for medication related problems compared to younger patients. In order to measure medication related problems in hospitalised elderly and to ultimately improve their pharmaceutical care we examined three possibl

OBJECTIVE: To study the temporal and gender trends in age-standardised hospitalisation rates, in-hospital mortality rates and indicators of health service use for acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and the sub-categories, ST elevation MI (STEMI) and non-ST elevation MI (NSTEMI), in Ireland, 1997-2008. DESIGN, SETTING, PATIENTS: Anonymised data from the hospital inpatient enquiry were studied for the ICD codes covering STEMI and NSTEMI in all 39 acute hospitals in Ireland over a 12-year period. Age standardisation (direct method) was used to study hospitalisation and in-hospital mortality rates. Joinpoint regression analysis was undertaken to identify significant inflection points in hospitalisation trends. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Age-standardised hospitalisation rates, in-hospital mortality and indicators of health service use (length of stay, bed days) for AMI, STEMI and NSTEMI patients. RESULTS: From 1997 to 2008, hospitalisation rates for AMI decreased by 27%, and by 68% for STEMI patients (test for trend p<0.001), and increased by 122% for NSTEMI, (test for trend p<0.001). The mean age of male STEMI patients decreased (p<0.01), while those for the remaining groupings of AMI and subcategories increased. The proportion of males increased significantly for STEMI and NSTEMI (p<0.001). In-hospital mortality decreased steadily (p=0.01 STEMI, p=0.02 NSTEMI), as did median length of stay. CONCLUSIONS: The authors found a steady decrease in hospitalisation rates with AMI, and a shift away from STEMI towards rising rates of NSTEMI patients who are increasingly older. In an ageing population, and with increasing survival rates, surveillance of acute coronary syndrome and allied conditions is necessary to inform clinicians and policy makers.

BACKGROUND: It has been proposed that infections in infancy and early childhood are associated with a reduced risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). We tested this hypothesis in a register-based study of hospitalisations for infectious diseases prior to diagnosis of childhood ALL....... PROCEDURE: A nation-wide cohort encompassing all Danish children aged 0-14 years and born between 1977 and 2008 (N = 1,778,129) was established and followed for hospitalisations for infectious diseases and risk of childhood ALL. The exposure was lagged 1 year to limit reverse causality. In the statistical...... hospitalisations for infectious diseases before (incidence rate ratio = 0.92, 95% confidence interval 0.78-1.07) nor at/after 2 years of age (incidence rate ratio = 1.04, 95% confidence interval 0.81-1.32). This also applied to subsets of ALL supposedly initiated prenatally. CONCLUSION: The absence of association...

This study is the first to provide an extensive overview of the microbiology of acute ear, nose and throat infections requiring hospitalisation. All 2,028 cases of acute infections admitted between 1 January 2001 and 31 December 2006 were reviewed to assess the use of pre-admission antibiotics......, microbiological results, antibiotic and surgical management and length of hospitalisation. Infections of the oropharynx accounted for the vast majority of admissions, followed by ear infections, and cutaneous neck abscesses. Peritonsillar abscess was the most frequent diagnosis, accounting for over one third...... of admissions (39.8%, 808 out of 2,028). Complete microbiological data were available for 1,430 cultures, and were analysed for trends with respect to diagnosis, age, gender and use of pre-admission antibiotics. Forty-six percent (657 out of 1,430) of cultures yielded no growth or normal flora. This value...

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one cause of death globally and evidence is steadily increasing on the role of non-traditional risk factors such as meteorology and air pollution. Nevertheless, many research gaps remain, such as the association between these non-traditional risk factors and subtypes of CVD, such as acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The objective of this study was to investigate the association between daily ambient temperature and AMI hospitalisations using a case-...

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The high mortality rates that follow the onset of acute kidney injury (AKI are well recognised. However, the mode of death in patients with AKI remains relatively under-studied, particularly in general hospitalised populations who represent the majority of those affected. We sought to describe the primary cause of death in a large group of prospectively identified patients with AKI. METHODS: All patients sustaining AKI at our centre between 1(st October 2010 and 31(st October 2011 were identified by real-time, hospital-wide, electronic AKI reporting based on the Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN diagnostic criteria. Using this system we are able to generate a prospective database of all AKI cases that includes demographic, outcome and hospital coding data. For those patients that died during hospital admission, cause of death was derived from the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death. RESULTS: During the study period there were 3,930 patients who sustained AKI; 62.0% had AKI stage 1, 20.6% had stage 2 and 17.4% stage 3. In-hospital mortality rate was 21.9% (859 patients. Cause of death could be identified in 93.4% of cases. There were three main disease categories accounting for three quarters of all mortality; sepsis (41.1%, cardiovascular disease (19.2% and malignancy (12.9%. The major diagnosis leading to sepsis was pneumonia, whilst cardiovascular death was largely a result of heart failure and ischaemic heart disease. AKI was the primary cause of death in only 3% of cases. CONCLUSIONS: Mortality associated with AKI remains high, although cause of death is usually concurrent illness. Specific strategies to improve outcomes may therefore need to target not just the management of AKI but also the most relevant co-existing conditions.

Full Text Available Viral acute gastroenteritis (AG is a significant cause of hospitalisation in children younger than five years. Group A rotavirus (RVA is responsible for 30% of these cases. Following the introduction of RVA immunisation in Brazil in 2006, a decreased circulation of this virus has been observed. However, AG remains an important cause of hospitalisation of paediatric patients and only limited data are available regarding the role of other enteric viruses in these cases. We conducted a prospective study of paediatric patients hospitalised for AG. Stool samples were collected to investigate human adenovirus (HAdV, RVA, norovirus (NoV and astrovirus (AstV. NoV typing was performed by nucleotide sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. From the 225 samples tested, 60 (26% were positive for at least one viral agent. HAdV, NoV, RVA and AstV were detected in 16%, 8%, 6% and 0% of the samples, respectively. Mixed infections were found in nine patients: HAdV/RVA (5, HAdV/NoV (3 and HAdV/NoV/RVA (1. The frequency of fever and lymphocytosis was significantly higher in virus-infected patients. Phylogenetic analysis of NoV indicated that all of these viruses belonged to genotype GII.4. The significant frequency of these pathogens in patients with AG highlights the need to routinely implement laboratory investigations.

Pharmacotherapy in the elderly population is complicated by several factors that increase the risk of drug related harms and poorer adherence. The concept of medication review is a key element in improving the quality of prescribing and the prevention of adverse drug events. While no generally...

Short-stay treatment has become a popular form of care as a strategy to cope with increased demands on health care. There is little research that considers children’s experiences of acutehospitalisation to a short-stay care facility such as a Paediatric Emergency and Assessment Unit (PEAU). This...... and enjoyed time together with their parents while in hospital. In their conversations with staff they adapted to professional terms that they did not necessarily understand. They did not differentiate between professionals. Further work should be considered to clarify the consequences of this. This...

, treatment and procedures; the children’s experiences of health-care personnel and the PEAU and transformation of everyday life into the settings of the hospital. The children identified the hospital stay as an overall positive experience. The children took part in leisure activities as they would at home......Short-stay treatment has become a popular form of care as a strategy to cope with increased demands on health care. There is little research that considers children’s experiences of acutehospitalisation to a short-stay care facility such as a Paediatric Emergency and Assessment Unit (PEAU...... provided some limited insight into the child’s experiences of acutehospitalisation, which should inform nursing care....

The 6-minute walk test (6MWT) is recommended to be performed twice to accurately assess exercise performance in stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) due to the presence of a learning effect. It is unknown whether a learning effect exists when the 6MWT is performed during hospitalisation for acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD). This study investigated whether repeat 6MWTs are necessary when conducted in inpatients with AECOPD. Pooled analysis was undertaken of data from two studies (Australia and Brazil) involving 46 participants (25 males, mean age 67.2 years, FEV1 43% predicted) admitted with AECOPD. Two 6MWTs, separated by ≥20 minutes, were performed on the day of discharge. Six-minute walk distance (6MWD; primary outcome), perceived dyspnoea (Borg scale), heart rate and oxyhaemoglobin saturation were recorded. 6MWD data from tests one (T1) and two (T2) were analysed via visual inspection of Bland-Altman plots. Factors associated with test improvement or decline were explored. Mean 6MWD difference between T1 and T2 was 6.2 m, however limits of agreement were wide (-92.2 m to 104.5 m). 32 (70%) participants improved (by any distance) from T1 to T2 by a mean (± standard deviation) of 32 m ± 28 m. Of these, 14 (30%) improved by a distance > 30 m. Fourteen (30%) participants recorded poorer 6MWD at T2 by a mean of 52 m ± 36 m. No factors were able to identify participants who improved or declined upon repeat testing. When performed in patients admitted to hospital with AECOPD, the 6MWT needs to be conducted twice in order to better estimate 6MWD. PMID:26643192

Full Text Available Abstract Background Urolithiasis is one of the most common conditions seen in emergency departments (ED worldwide, with an increasing frequency in geriatric patients (>65 years. Given the high costs of emergency medical urolithiasis treatment, the need to optimise management is obvious. We aimed to determine risk factors for hospitalisation and evaluate diagnostic and emergency treatment patterns by ED physicians in geriatric urolithiasis patients to assist in optimising treatment. Methods After receiving ethics committee approval, we examined the records of emergency urolithiasis admissions to our ED between January 2000 and December 2010 to determine risk factors for hospitalisation and to evaluate current diagnostic and emergency treatment patterns in geriatric urolithiasis patients. Results 1,267 consecutive patients at least 20 years of age with confirmed urolithiasis (1,361 ED visits and complete follow-up data were analyzed. Geriatric patients comprised 10% of urolithiasis patients with more than half of them experiencing their first urolithiasis episode at ED admission. Although stone site, side and size did not significantly differ between groups, urinary stone disease was more severe in the elderly. The risk of severe complications correlated with increasing age, female sex and diabetes mellitus. Geriatric patients had a two-fold greater likelihood of being hospitalised. A significantly lower percentage of geriatric patients received combined analgesic therapy for pain management (37% vs. 64%, p = Conclusion Geriatric patients with urolithiasis have a higher morbidity than younger patients and may be undertreated concerning analgetic and expulsive treatment in ED.

hospitalisation and the effects of this intake. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Junior physicians on call interviewed patients admitted to the medical admission unit at South-West Jutland Hospital in Esbjerg using a modified chart template. Adult patients aged 15 and older admitted during a two-week period in August 2012...... were included. Patients were asked about consumed OTC drugs, dosage, indication and effect. RESULTS: From a total of 349 admissions, 188 usable chart templates were registered (54%), and information on OTC usage was registered on 165 of these (88%). The patients where elderly (median: 70 years) and 43...... reported use of OTC drugs (26%). A total of 22 different OTC drugs had been consumed with analgesics being the most widely used OTC drugs (74%). The majority had taken the drugs on a relevant indication (88%), most commonly pain. Half of the patients had taken the drugs in a relevant dosage (51%). In all...

We examined the prescribing of antiosteoporotic medications pre- and post hospital admission in patients with fragility fractures as well as factors associated with prescribing of these treatments following admission.

. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study involving all first time admissions (n=11988) to the AcuteMedical Department at Odense University Hospital linking potassium level at admission with registry data on patient characteristics, laboratory data, redeemed prescriptions and time of death for the...... or betagonist use. CONCLUSIONS: In a mixed population of hospitalized medical patients, hypokalemia is common and plasma [K(+)]<2.9 mmol/l is associated with increased 7-day and 8-30 day mortality....

INTRODUCTION: Emergency department-based short stay units (SSUs) are increasingly being introduced to provide accelerated care. The effects of treatment in SSUs for elderly medical patients are not well-studied. METHODS: The ELDER trial is a single-blinded, randomised parallel trial with 1:1 allo...

Background: Medication errors (MEs) affect patient safety to a significant extent. Because these errors can lead to preventable adverse drug events (pADEs), it is important to know what type of ME is the most prevalent cause of these pADEs. This study determined the impact of the various types of pr

Full Text Available Abstract Background Frail older people admitted to acute care hospitals are at risk of a range of adverse outcomes, including geriatric syndromes, although targeted care strategies can improve health outcomes for these patients. It is therefore important to assess inter-hospital variation in performance in order to plan and resource improvement programs. Clinical quality outcome indicators provide a mechanism for identifying variation in performance over time and between hospitals, however to date there has been no routine use of such indicators in acute care settings. A barrier to using quality indicators is lack of access to routinely collected clinical data. The interRAI Acute Care (AC assessment system supports comprehensive geriatric assessment of older people within routine daily practice in hospital and includes process and outcome data pertaining to geriatric syndromes. This paper reports the study protocol for the development of aged care quality indicators for acute care hospitals. Methods/Design The study will be conducted in three phases: 1. Development of a preliminary inclusive set of quality indicators set based on a literature review and expert panel consultation, 2. A prospective field study including recruitment of 480 patients aged 70 years or older across 9 Australian hospitals. Each patient will be assessed on admission and discharge using the interRAI AC, and will undergo daily monitoring to observe outcomes. Medical records will be independently audited, and 3. Analysis and compilation of a definitive quality indicator set, including two anonymous voting rounds for quality indicator inclusion by the expert panel. Discussion The approach to quality indicators proposed in this protocol has four distinct advantages over previous efforts: the quality indicators focus on outcomes; they can be collected as part of a routinely applied clinical information and decision support system; the clinical data will be robust and will

Introduction Not responsible self-medication refers to drug use in high doses without rational indication and often associated with alcohol abuse. It can lead to liver damage and drug interactions, and may cause liver failure. Aim To warn about how the practice of self-medication can be responsible for acute liver failure. Method Were used the Medline via PubMed, Cochrane Library, SciELO and Lilacs, and additional information on institutional sites of interest crossing the headings acute live...

OBJECTIVES: To determine the proportion of adult medical patients who have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), using the Global initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease guidelines (GOLD), and its relation to vascular disease. METHODS: This is a prospective cross-sectional study of adult patients admitted to acutemedical wards. Interviewer administered questionnaire, anthropometric and spirometric measurements were done. RESULTS: Spirometry was performed in 720 acute admissio...

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Sepsis is an infection which has evoked a systemic inflammatory response. Clinically, the Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) is identified by two or more symptoms including fever or hypothermia, tachycardia, tachypnoea and change in blood leucocyte count. The...

general practitioner (GP) and the in-home care provider. A discrepancy was defined as any disagreement or omission of information between the four sources concerning name, form, strength and dose for each drug with which the patient was being treated. Main outcome measure The number of discrepancies...

Full Text Available Although viruses are well-established causes of acute gastroenteritis, few data on the circulation of these pathogens in Porto Velho, state of Rondônia, Brazil, are available. Thus, faecal samples from hospitalised diarrhoeic children, under six years of age, were collected and tested for the presence of norovirus (NoV, adenovirus (AdV and astrovirus (AstV from February 2010-February 2012. Specimens were screened by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and viruses were found in 10.7% (63/591 of the cases. NoV, AdV and AstV were detected in 7.8%, 2% and 0.8% of the samples, respectively. NoV infection was observed at all ages and was most prevalent in zero-18-month-old children (84.7%; p = 0.002. A higher incidence of NoV was detected from February-April 2010, when it was found in 52.2% of the cases. Co-infections involving these viruses, rotavirus and enteropathogenic bacteria were detected in 44.4% (28/63 of the children with viral diarrhoea. Nosocomial infections were demonstrated in 28.6% (18/63 of the cases in which viruses were detected. The present paper reports, for the first time, the circulation of NoV and AstV among the paediatric population of Porto Velho and it contributes to our understanding of the roles of these pathogens in gastrointestinal infections.

Although viruses are well-established causes of acute gastroenteritis, few data on the circulation of these pathogens in Porto Velho, state of Rondônia, Brazil, are available. Thus, faecal samples from hospitalised diarrhoeic children, under six years of age, were collected and tested for the presence of norovirus (NoV), adenovirus (AdV) and astrovirus (AstV) from February 2010-February 2012. Specimens were screened by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and viruses were found in 10.7% (63/591) of the cases. NoV, AdV and AstV were detected in 7.8%, 2% and 0.8% of the samples, respectively. NoV infection was observed at all ages and was most prevalent in zero-18-month-old children (84.7%; p = 0.002). A higher incidence of NoV was detected from February-April 2010, when it was found in 52.2% of the cases. Co-infections involving these viruses, rotavirus and enteropathogenic bacteria were detected in 44.4% (28/63) of the children with viral diarrhoea. Nosocomial infections were demonstrated in 28.6% (18/63) of the cases in which viruses were detected. The present paper reports, for the first time, the circulation of NoV and AstV among the paediatric population of Porto Velho and it contributes to our understanding of the roles of these pathogens in gastrointestinal infections. PMID:25946245

Full Text Available Abstract Background Acute pancreatitis rarely complicates pregnancy. Although most pregnant women with acute pancreatitis have associated gallstones, less common causes such as drugs have been reported. Case presentation We report the case of a 34-year-old woman who underwent medical abortion with mifepristone and gemeprost and received codeine as pain-relief during the induction of abortion. She developed a severe acute necrotizing pancreatitis which required 14 days of intensive care. Other possible etiological factors, i.e. gallstone, alcohol intake and hyperlipidemia, were excluded. Conclusions The reported case of acute pancreatitis was most likely drug-induced.

Objectives Differentiation of delirium and dementia is a key diagnostic challenge but there has been limited study of features that distinguish these conditions. We examined neuropsychiatric and neuropsychological symptoms in elderly medical inpatients to identify features that distinguish major neurocognitive disorders. Setting University teaching hospital in Ireland. Participants and measures 176 consecutive elderly medical inpatients (mean age 80.6±7.0 years (range 60–96); 85 males (48%)) referred to a psychiatry for later life consultation-liaison service with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) IV delirium, dementia, comorbid delirium–dementia and cognitively intact controls. Participants were assessed cross-sectionally with comparison of scores (including individual items) for the Revised Delirium Rating Scale (DRS-R98), Cognitive Test for Delirium (CTD) and Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI-Q). Results The frequency of neurocognitive diagnoses was delirium (n=50), dementia (n=32), comorbid delirium–dementia (n=62) and cognitively intact patients (n=32). Both delirium and comorbid delirium–dementia groups scored higher than the dementia group for DRS-R98 and CTD total scores, but all three neurocognitively impaired groups scored similarly in respect of total NPI-Q scores. For individual DRS-R98 items, delirium groups were distinguished from dementia groups by a range of non-cognitive symptoms, but only for impaired attention of the cognitive items. For the CTD, attention (p=0.002) and vigilance (p=0.01) distinguished between delirium and dementia. No individual CTD item distinguished between comorbid delirium–dementia and delirium. For the NPI-Q, there were no differences between the three neurocognitively impaired groups for any individual item severity. Conclusions The neurocognitive profile of delirium is similar with or without comorbid dementia and differs from dementia without delirium. Simple tests of attention and

staff members are attended to. The presentation focuses on one theme waiting when hospitalised.MethodsAs I explore patients' social interactions in their day-to-day lives in two adult surgical units at a University Hospital in Denmark an ethnographic research design was chosen. The present findings are...... become increasingly important in today's health care environment. The indicative conclusions form this study suggest that nurses play an important role in ensuring that patients are satisfied and receive quality care when waiting....

Self-harm is a public health issue that accounts for thousands of presentations at hospital each year. Self-harm commonly involves self-injury by cutting, burning or poisoning. The incidence of self-harm is increasing in the UK, particularly in young people. Research suggests that people who self-harm experience negative attitudes from healthcare staff, including nurses, on presentation to healthcare services. This is an ethical issue in nursing practice that has implications for the quality of care provided. Nurses with a lack of mental health training provide care for patients who self-harm in emergency departments and acutemedical settings. This article presents a literature review exploring the factors affecting nurses' attitudes towards patients hospitalised for self-harm and makes recommendations for improving practice. The article identifies requirements for nurse education and training in mental health and effective provision of care for patients who self-harm and present at the emergency department. PMID:27027196

Full Text Available No abstract available. Article truncated after 150 words. A 24 year old man without a significant past medical history presented with a 3 day history of sore throat, fever and less than 24 hour history of pain with breathing and swallowing secretions. He was intubated using fiberoptic nasopharyngoscopy in the emergency department due to stridor with a 6.0 mm endotracheal tube until successfully extubated five days later. Initially he was treated with broad spectrum antibiotics and methylprednisolone 40 mg intravenously every 12 hours. A CT scan of the neck did not show an epiglottic abscess. Acute epiglottitis in adults appears to have a rising incidence with an associated mortality of 7% that is related to Haemophilus influenzae type b, as well as other miscellaneous pathogens, mechanical injury or smoke inhalation. Risk factors associated with obstruction are drooling, rapid onset of symptoms, evidence of abscess formation and a history of diabetes mellitus. Epiglottic abscess is infrequent sequelae of acute …

This paper describes hospitalisations due to falls among people aged 65 years and over resident in the Eastern Region of Ireland. Of the 2,029 hospitalisations recorded for 2002, 78% were female and 68% were aged 75 years and over. Fractures accounted for 1,697 or 84% of cases with nearly half of them (841) sustained to the hip. Females were more likely to have a limb fracture whereas males were more likely to have a head injury. The total inpatient costs of the 2,029 hospitalisations were estimated at 10.6 million euros. Hip fractures were the costliest injuries as they accounted for 7.4 million euros (70%) of inpatient costs. There are also substantial additional costs implications for hip fractures as they constituted the majority (56%) of cases transferred to nursing\\/convalescent homes or long-stay health facilities. In keeping with an ageing population, the problem of injuries in older people is likely to increase over time and as falls are the dominant cause of those injuries, all acute and long-stay health facilities need to develop and implement fall prevention strategies for older people.

AcuteMedical Assessment Units (AMAUs) are being proposed as an alternative to congested Emergency Departments (EDs for the assessment of patients with a range of acutemedical problems. We retrospectively reviewed the discharge destination of patients referred to a newly established AMAU during a six-month period. During the same period we contrasted activity in the ED for a similar group of patients. 1,562 patients were assessed in the AMAU. 196 (12.5%) were admitted to an in-patient bed and 1,148 (73.5%) were entered into specific diagnosis-driven out-patient pathways. 1,465 patients attended the ED and 635 (43.3%) were admitted. Out-patient alternatives to expensive in-patient care need to be provided at the \\'coal face" of acute referral. The AMAU provides this, and as a consequence admission rates are relatively low. This is achieved by directly communicating with GPs, accessing senior clinical decision makers, and providing immediate access to diagnostically driven outpatient pathways.

There are increasing concerns regarding high hospital use among older adults and the capacity to manage the economic impact of the ageing population trend on healthcare systems. First hospitalisation in old age may act as a catalyst for ongoing intensification of health problems and acute care use. This study examined factors associated with first incident hospitalisation in women aged over 70, accounting for the health inequalities associated with geographic location. Survey data from 3780 women from the 1921 to 1926 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health were matched with the Admitted Patients Data Collection and National Death Index. Days to first event (hospitalisation or death) were modelled using competing risks methods. A total of 3065 (80.3%) women had at least one hospital admission. More than half of the top 15 reasons for first hospitalisation were related to cardiovascular disease, with atrial fibrillation the most common. Proportional subdistribution hazards models showed that first hospital admission was driven by enabling and need factors including asthma/bronchitis diagnosis (HR=1.16; p=0.047), private health insurance (HR=1.16; p=0.004) more than two prescribed medications in previous month (HR=1.31; p=0.001), more than four general practitioner visits in previous year (HR=1.50; p=0.034), lower physical functioning (HR=0.99; p<0.001) and living in an inner regional area (HR=1.17; p=0.003). First overnight hospitalisation was primarily related with potentially preventable and treatable chronic diseases. Primary and secondary strategies aimed at chronic disease generally, and better chronic disease management particularly for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, may play a vital role in disease prevention or delay in readmissions among this population. PMID:26952374

The majority of patients who are admitted to the departments of internal medicine are admitted acutely. The aim of this study was to evaluate the appropriateness of admissions to a community hospital in Copenhagen....

BACKGROUND—Previous studies have shown that up to 0.5% of the Caucasian population is homozygous for the HFE gene C282Y mutation. High prevalence values have been reported in Northern Europe. To what extent the presence of this mutation is associated with overt clinical haemochromatosis is unclear. AIM—To determine the prevalence of the C282Y allele in a hospitalised population of an acutemedical department, and study the phenotypic expression in the homozygotes. METHODS—Blood samples were o...

INTRODUCTION: Informed consent in incapacitated adults is permitted in the form of proxy consent by both the patients' closest relative (next of kin, NOK) and general practitioner (GP). In research in acute situations not involving pharmaceuticals, Danish legislation allows for randomisation and...

INTRODUCTION: Informed consent in incapacitated adults is permitted in the form of proxy consent by both the patients' closest relative (next of kin, NOK) and general practitioner (GP). In research in acute situations not involving pharmaceuticals, Danish legislation allows for randomisation and ...

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — Section 1886(h) of the Act, establish a methodology for determining payments to hospitals for the costs of approved graduate medical education (GME) programs.

Hospitalizations for acute decompensated heart failure are increasing in the United States. Moreover, the prevalence of heart failure is increasing consequent to an increased number of older individuals, as well as to improvement in therapies for coronary artery disease and sudden cardiac death that have enabled patients to live longer with cardiovascular disease. The main treatment goals in the hospitalized patient with heart failure are to restore euvolemia and to minimize adverse events. C...

Full Text Available This study was undertaken to determine the extent and nature of depressive symptoms exhibited by black South African children during hospitalisation for orthopaedic procedures. Social factors associated with the risk for depression, in response to hospitalisation, were also examined. Pre- and post-test assessments were conducted on a sample of 30 children aged between 6 and 12 years. The assessment entailed a structured interview, together with the following psychometric instruments: A Global Mood Scale, a Depressive Symptoms Checklist, a Hospital Fears Rating Scale and a Self Report Depression Rating Scale. A large proportion of the children were rated by ward sisters as showing high levels of depressive symptomatology two weeks after admission to hospital. As expected, discrepancies were found between adult and child self-ratings of depression. The results of this study indicate that hospitalisation for orthopaedic child patients is associated with the development of depressive symptomatology. It is suggested that emphasis be placed on the development of supportive programmes and procedures aimed at maximising children's coping responses to hospitalisation, particularly for children who find themselves Isolated from their communities and families, as a result of both centralised health services and poor socio-economic conditions.

Objectives: The aims of this study were to determine the seroprevalence of acute dengue in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Medical Centre and its correlation with selected haematological and biochemical parameters. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from January to June 2015. A patient was serologically diagnosed with acute dengue if the dengue virus IgG, IgM or NS-1 antigen was reactive. Results: Out of 1,774 patients suspected to have acute dengue, 1,153 were serological...

Background: Delay time from onset of symptoms of myocardial infarction to seeking medical assistance can have life- 31 threatening consequences. A number of factors have been associated with delay, but there is little evidence regarding the predictive 32 value of these indices. Aim: To explore potential predictors of patient delay from onset of symptoms to time medical assistance 33 was sought in a consecutive sample of patients admitted to CCU with acute myocardial infarction. Methods: The C...

Objective: This study aimed to identify the distribution of fall related injury in older people hospitalised for acute treatment of injury, in order to direct priorities for prevention. Setting: A follow up study was conducted in the Brisbane Metropolitan Region of Australia during 1998. Methods: Medical records of patients aged 65 years and over hospitalised with a fall related injury were reviewed. Demographic and injury data were analysed and injury rates calculated using census data as the denominator for the population at risk. Results: From age 65, hospitalised fall related injury rates increased exponentially for both males and females, with age adjusted incidence rates twice as high in women than men. Fractures accounted for 89% of admissions, with over half being to the hip. Males were significantly more likely than females to have fractured their skull, face, or ribs (p<0.01). While females were significantly more likely than males to have fractured their upper or lower limbs (p<0.01), the difference between proportions of males and females fracturing their hip was not significant. Males were more likely than females (p<0.01) to have fall related head injuries (13% of admissions). Compared with hip fractures, head injuries contributed significantly to the burden of injury in terms of severity, need for intensive care, and excess mortality. Conclusions: The frequency and impact of hip fractures warrants continued emphasis in falls program interventions for both males and females to prevent this injury. However, interventions that go beyond measures to slow and protect against bone loss are also needed to prevent fall related head injuries. PMID:12460962

Background Community-dwelling older people aged 65+ years sustain falls frequently; these can result in physical injuries necessitating medical attention including emergency department care and hospitalisation. Certain health conditions and impairments have been shown to contribute independently to the risk of falling or experiencing a fall injury, suggesting that individuals with these conditions or impairments should be the focus of falls prevention. Since older people commonly have multiple conditions/impairments, knowledge about which conditions/impairments coexist in at-risk individuals would be valuable in the implementation of a targeted prevention approach. The objective of this study was therefore to examine the prevalence and patterns of comorbidity in this population group. Methods We analysed hospitalisation data from Victoria, Australia's second most populous state, to estimate the prevalence of comorbidity in patients hospitalised at least once between 2005-6 and 2007-8 for treatment of acute fall-related injuries. In patients with two or more comorbid conditions (multicomorbidity) we used an agglomerative hierarchical clustering method to cluster comorbidity variables and identify constellations of conditions. Results More than one in four patients had at least one comorbid condition and among patients with comorbidity one in three had multicomorbidity (range 2-7). The prevalence of comorbidity varied by gender, age group, ethnicity and injury type; it was also associated with a significant increase in the average cumulative length of stay per patient. The cluster analysis identified five distinct, biologically plausible clusters of comorbidity: cardiopulmonary/metabolic, neurological, sensory, stroke and cancer. The cardiopulmonary/metabolic cluster was the largest cluster among the clusters identified. Conclusions The consequences of comorbidity clustering in terms of falls and/or injury outcomes of hospitalised patients should be investigated by

Full Text Available Abstract Background Community-dwelling older people aged 65+ years sustain falls frequently; these can result in physical injuries necessitating medical attention including emergency department care and hospitalisation. Certain health conditions and impairments have been shown to contribute independently to the risk of falling or experiencing a fall injury, suggesting that individuals with these conditions or impairments should be the focus of falls prevention. Since older people commonly have multiple conditions/impairments, knowledge about which conditions/impairments coexist in at-risk individuals would be valuable in the implementation of a targeted prevention approach. The objective of this study was therefore to examine the prevalence and patterns of comorbidity in this population group. Methods We analysed hospitalisation data from Victoria, Australia's second most populous state, to estimate the prevalence of comorbidity in patients hospitalised at least once between 2005-6 and 2007-8 for treatment of acute fall-related injuries. In patients with two or more comorbid conditions (multicomorbidity we used an agglomerative hierarchical clustering method to cluster comorbidity variables and identify constellations of conditions. Results More than one in four patients had at least one comorbid condition and among patients with comorbidity one in three had multicomorbidity (range 2-7. The prevalence of comorbidity varied by gender, age group, ethnicity and injury type; it was also associated with a significant increase in the average cumulative length of stay per patient. The cluster analysis identified five distinct, biologically plausible clusters of comorbidity: cardiopulmonary/metabolic, neurological, sensory, stroke and cancer. The cardiopulmonary/metabolic cluster was the largest cluster among the clusters identified. Conclusions The consequences of comorbidity clustering in terms of falls and/or injury outcomes of hospitalised patients

Full Text Available Traditional herbal medicine is a global phenomenon especially in the resource poor economy where only the very rich can access orthodox care. These herbal products are associated with complications such as acute renal failure and liver damage with a high incidence of mortalities and morbidities. Acute renal failure from the use of herbal remedies is said to account for about 30–35% of all cases of acute renal failure in Africa. Most of the herbal medications are not usually identified, but some common preparation often used in Nigeria includes “holy water” green water leaves, bark of Mangifera indica (mango, shoot of Anacardium occidentale (cashew, Carica papaya (paw-paw leaves, lime water, Solanum erianthum (Potato tree, and Azadirachta indica (Neem trees. We report a rare case of a young man who developed acute renal failure two days after ingestion of Chinese herb for “body cleansing” and general wellbeing. He had 4 sessions of haemodialysis and recovered kidney function fully after 18 days of admission.

This article reports the implementation and impact of a standardized systematic evidence-based predictive score for the initial assessment of acutely ill medical patients. The Simple Clinical Score (SCS) was introduced in the A&E department and the medical floor of the authors\\' hospital between June 2007 and July 2008. The SCS was well received by the staff - 67% felt it greatly improved patient assessment and was very valuable for ensuring appropriate placement of the patient after admission and improved the quality of care. This article describes the change process, the pilot evaluation and the training programme undertaken during the implementation of the SCS. It is hoped that this experience will be of value to other project teams who are undertaking similar initiatives.

This article reports the implementation and impact of a standardized systematic evidence-based predictive score for the initial assessment of acutely ill medical patients. The Simple Clinical Score (SCS) was introduced in the A&E department and the medical floor of the authors\\' hospital between June 2007 and July 2008. The SCS was well received by the staff - 67% felt it greatly improved patient assessment and was very valuable for ensuring appropriate placement of the patient after admission and improved the quality of care. This article describes the change process, the pilot evaluation and the training programme undertaken during the implementation of the SCS. It is hoped that this experience will be of value to other project teams who are undertaking similar initiatives.

Described in this paper are the multiple injuries the author sustained as a result of a serious motor vehicle accident 5 years previously and the subsequent surgical and medical treatment. Also described are the different coping and adaptive skills he utilised during and after hospitalisation and how the nature of surgical and medical intervention…

Drug-induced dystonic reactions are common presentations to the emergency department. Two cases of acute dystonic reactions presenting as acutemedical emergency illustrate the associated fatality and possibility of misdiagnosis. This case series reports two cases of medication-induced (haloperidol and metoclopramide) acute dystonic reactions presenting with torticollis, tongue protrusion, and respiratory distress which resolved with the administration of intramuscular biperiden and oxygen by...

Full Text Available No abstract available. Article truncated after 150 words. A 71 year old man with a medical history significant for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, coronary artery disease with post-operative status coronary artery bypass grafting, heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (25% and atrial fibrillation/flutter underwent an elective ablation of the tachyarrhythmia at another facility and was prescribed amiodarone post procedure. He started complaining of cough and dyspnea one day post procedure and was empirically treated with 2 weeks of broad spectrum antibiotics. He subsequently was transferred to our facility due to worsening symptoms. He also complained of nausea, anorexia with resultant weight loss since starting amiodarone, which was stopped 5 days prior to transfer. Infectious work up was negative. On arrival to our facility, he was diagnosed with small sub-segmental pulmonary emboli, pulmonary edema and possible acute amiodarone toxicity. His was profoundly hypoxic requiring high flow nasal cannula or 100% non-rebreather mask at all times. His symptoms persisted despite ...

PURPOSE: Severe pain, anxiety, depression, and fear-avoidance belief (FAB) are widespread among patients hospitalised for acute low back pain (LBP). Research shows that these psychological factors impact negatively on rehabilitation. This study aimed to investigate and develop an understanding of...... pain in patients with fear avoidance belief hospitalised for LBP. METHOD: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine patients selected by an FAB questionnaire: averaged FAB - physical activity score was 21 and FAB - work score was 30. All participants were recruited from a rheumatology ward...... meaning of metaphors and the personal story behind the expression of pain as a way of understanding each individual with LBP. Implications for Rehabilitation FAB questionnaire is not sufficient either to detect fear avoidance in LBP patients hospitalised with acute conditions or to catch the complexities...

data, (2) collection of information about the patient's medical treatment, (3) patient interview, (4) critical examination of the patient's medications and (5) recommendations for the hospital physician.Conclusions We have provided a detailed description of a procedure for pharmacist-led medication...

Background Elderly polypharmacy patients may be more at risk of not adhering to medication. If so, the underlying reasons may be more readily disclosed during private discussions with patients. Hence pharmaceutical care discussions at home might improve treatment adherence. Objective The aim of...... this study was to investigate the impact of pharmaceutical care on medication adherence, hospitalisation and mortality in elderly patients prescribed polypharmacy. Setting Pharmaceutical care discussed at home. Methods A randomised controlled trial with two arms; pharmaceutical care (n = 315) and...... % confidence interval 0.71–2.82). Conclusions Pharmaceutical care given to our elderly polypharmacy patients made no significant impact on medication adherence, hospitalisation or mortality, when compared to comparable control patients....

Objectives Over the last decades, several papers have evaluated clinical pharmacy interventions in hospital settings with conflicting findings as results. Medication reviews are frequently a central component of these interventions. However, the term ‘medication review’ covers a plethora of...... data, (2) collection of information about the patient's medical treatment, (3) patient interview, (4) critical examination of the patient's medications and (5) recommendations for the hospital physician.Conclusions We have provided a detailed description of a procedure for pharmacist-led medication...... review. We do so, not to provide or advocate a single one-size-fits-all solution, but in an attempt to inspire a debate of the practical approach on how to execute a systematic medication review in order to develop and expand clinical pharmacy and achieve better patient outcomes....

Objective To describe the frequency of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria in a cohort of patients hospitalised with purulent soft tissue infections and to determine their impact on clinical characteristics, microbiology and outcomes. Methods Retrospective cohort study of adults hospitalised at the West Haven Veteran's Hospital with purulent soft tissue infections between 1 October 2008 and 30 September 2013. Results A total of 173 patients were included with purulent soft tissue infections; 60 patients had no SIRS, 48 had one SIRS and 65 had ≥ 2 SIRS. Most clinical characteristics were similar between the different SIRS groups, although patients with SIRS were more likely to have severe sepsis and acute kidney injury and to already be on antibiotics at the time of hospitalisation. The microbiology of the infections was similar between SIRS groups. All patients received parenteral antibiotics when admitted and the majority of patients in all SIRS categories received antibiotics with broad Gram-negative activity. Outcomes were generally benign for all SIRS groups, although patients with SIRS had a longer length of stay and a trend towards more bacteremia. Conclusions SIRS are common in patients hospitalised with purulent soft tissue infections, although one third had no systemic signs of infection. Severe sepsis and septic shock are rare. Clinical characteristics, microbiology and antibiotic use are similar among patients in different SIRS groups, although the group without SIRS had a shorter hospitalisation and no episodes of bacteremia. Over-use of antibiotics is common in all SIRS categories. PMID:26950290

Background Few epidemiological data on hip fractures were previously available in Lithuania. The aim of this study was to estimate the incidence and hospital costs of hip fractures in Vilnius in 2010. Methods Data were collected from the medical charts of all patients admitted to hospitals in Vilnius (population, 548,835) due to new low-energy trauma hip fracture, during 2010. The estimated costs included ambulance transportation and continuous hospitalisation immediately after a fracture, which are covered by the Lithuanian healthcare system. Results The incidence of new low-energy trauma hip fractures was 252 (308 women and 160 men) per 100,000 inhabitants of Vilnius aged 50-years or more. There was an exponential increase in the incidence with increasing age. The overall estimated cost of hip fractures in Vilnius was 1,114,292 EUR for the year 2010. The greatest part of the expenditure was accounted for by fractures in individuals aged 65-years and over. The mean cost per case was 2,526.74 EUR, and cost varied depending on the treatment type. Hip replacement did not affect the overall mean costs of hip fracture. The majority of costs were incurred for acute (53%) and long-term care (35%) hospital stays, while medical rehabilitation accounted for only 12% of the overall cost. The costs of hip fracture were somewhat lower than those found in other European countries. Conclusion The data on incidence and costs of hip fractures will help to assess the importance of interventions to reduce the number of fractures and associated costs. PMID:22747915

Full Text Available Abstract Background Few epidemiological data on hip fractures were previously available in Lithuania. The aim of this study was to estimate the incidence and hospital costs of hip fractures in Vilnius in 2010. Methods Data were collected from the medical charts of all patients admitted to hospitals in Vilnius (population, 548,835 due to new low-energy trauma hip fracture, during 2010. The estimated costs included ambulance transportation and continuous hospitalisation immediately after a fracture, which are covered by the Lithuanian healthcare system. Results The incidence of new low-energy trauma hip fractures was 252 (308 women and 160 men per 100,000 inhabitants of Vilnius aged 50-years or more. There was an exponential increase in the incidence with increasing age. The overall estimated cost of hip fractures in Vilnius was 1,114,292 EUR for the year 2010. The greatest part of the expenditure was accounted for by fractures in individuals aged 65-years and over. The mean cost per case was 2,526.74 EUR, and cost varied depending on the treatment type. Hip replacement did not affect the overall mean costs of hip fracture. The majority of costs were incurred for acute (53% and long-term care (35% hospital stays, while medical rehabilitation accounted for only 12% of the overall cost. The costs of hip fracture were somewhat lower than those found in other European countries. Conclusion The data on incidence and costs of hip fractures will help to assess the importance of interventions to reduce the number of fractures and associated costs.

Case management has developed as an administrative service for controlling costs and improving the quality of health and social service delivery. Long-term care case management combined with service expansion has been examined in some detail with varied results. Less research has focused on case management for users of high-cost medical care. This overview highlights five programs and patient groups where integrated delivery and/or financing of medical and long-term care services are being de...

AIMS: To investigate the hypothesis that increasing alcohol consumption is accompanied by increasing use of acute, but decreasing use of preventative, medical services among the general population. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: Health and life-style survey of 41,000 randomly-sampled adults in SE England who self-completed a validated questionnaire covering socio-demographics, alcohol and tobacco usage and use of acute (A&E department and general practitioner) and preventative (dental, optician, ma...

Full Text Available BackgroundPast reports on trends of alcohol consumption and related harm have generally been descriptive in nature and have not provided evidence of whether changes over time are significant.AimsWe investigated whether: (i the risk of alcohol-attributable hospitalisation and death between 1994 and 2005 for three different age groups changed significantly across all Australian jurisdictions; and (ii the relative rates of hospitalisation for males and females changed over time.MethodEstimates of alcohol-attributable hospitalisations and deaths were calculated using the aetiologic fraction method. Hospitalisations and deaths were grouped by age: 15-29 years, 30-44 years and 45+ years. Risk estimates and risk differences were analysed using Poisson regression.ResultsRisk of alcohol-attributable hospital separations increased nationally and across most jurisdictions throughout the study period. Male and female rates converged over time. Alcohol-attributable deaths decreased nationally across the three age groups and across several jurisdictions beginning in the mid-1990s.ConclusionNationally, alcohol-attributable deaths declined while hospitalisations rose. However, states with higher population density tended to drive national rates, with considerable variation by jurisdiction. The conditions which dominated hospitalisations (e.g. alcohol dependence, falls differed substantially from those underlying alcoholattributable deaths (e.g. alcoholic liver cirrhosis, road crashes. Jurisdictional variation in death and hospitalisations rates as well as changes over time may be partly due to differences in: regulation of alcohol supply; patterns and levels of alcohol consumption; the nature and effectiveness of law enforcement; demographic characteristics of general and sub-populations; and medical health services and screening for chronic conditions.

Acute renal failure (ARF) is a syndrome characterised by rapid decline in glomerular filtration rate and retention of nitrogenous waste products such as urea and creatinine. The objective of this study was to study the prevalence, risk and outcome of women with obstetrical renal failure. Methods: This observational study was conducted in Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Liaquat University Hospital, Hyderabad, Pakistan from October 2009 to September 2010. Thirty-five patients with obstetrical acute renal failure were included in the study, patients with chronic renal diseases, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and renal stones were excluded from the study. A detailed history was followed by thorough examination and investigation. Their clinical history, physical examination and intake/urine output was recorded. Routine laboratory investigations were done related to each case and specialised investigations like renal scan, renal ultrasonography and renal biopsies were performed in selected cases where recovery was delayed for more than 3 weeks. Results: Total numbers of admissions in obstetric ward were 3,285. Pregnancy related acute renal failure was found in 35 (1.065%) women. Age ranged from 18-40 years. Most of the women belonged to age group 30-35. Out of 35 women 31.42% had postpartum haemorrhage. Ante partum haemorrhage was found in 25.71%, Eclampsia in 17.14%, DIC in 14.28%, and sepsis in 11.42%. Anuria was observed in 25 patients, remaining presented with oliguria (28.57%). Haemodialysis was done in 75% of patients, others were managed conservatively. Complete recovery was observed in 53% cases. Maternal mortality was 25.71% and foetal mortality was 22.85%. Conclusion: Pregnancy related ARF is one of the most common causes of ARF, it is a dangerous complication of pregnancy which carries very high mortality and morbidity. (author)

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is a complex and debilitating disease with high resource utilisation. Prospective data on hospital admission rates and associated risk factors are scarce. We investigated hospitalisation rates, causes of hospitalisations and associated risk factors...... in CP outpatients. METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study comprising 170 patients with CP. The primary outcome was time to first pancreatitis related hospitalisation and secondary outcomes were the annual hospitalisation frequency (hospitalisation burden) and causes of hospitalisations. A...

Objective: To assess the risk factors leading to medical complications of hemorrhagic stroke. Methods: We conducted an observational study in neurology, emergency and general medicine wards at a tertiary care teaching hospital in Kadapa. We recruited hemorrhagic stroke patients, and excluded the patients have evidence of trauma or brain tumor as the cause of hemorrhage. We observed the subjects throughout their hospital stay to assess the risk factors and complications. Results: During period of 12 months, 288 subjects included in the study, 89% of them identified at least 1 prespecified risk factor for their admission in hospital and 75% of them experienced at least 1 prespecified complication during their stay in hospital. Around 47% of subjects deceased, among which 64% were females. Conclusions: Our study has assessed that hypertension followed by diabetes mellitus are the major risk factors for medical complications of hemorrhagic stroke. Female mortality rate was more when compared to males.

OBJECTIVES—Impaired proprioception has been previously reported in patients with Parkinson's disease. It was hypothesised that dopaminergic medications transiently depress proprioception, with amplification of adventitious movements as a result. This study tested for effects on proprioception of dopaminergic drugs, and for associations between such effects and drug induced dyskinesias. METHODS—In 17 patients with Parkinson's disease, arm proprioception was tested in the ...

Full Text Available Background. Frequency and impact of medical complications on short-term mortality in young patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH have gone unstudied. Methods. We reviewed data of all first-ever nontraumatic ICH patients between 16 and 49 years of age treated in our hospital between January 2000 and March 2010 to identify medical complications suffered. Logistic regression adjusted for known ICH prognosticators was used to identify medical complications associated with mortality. Results. Among the 325 eligible patients (59% males, median age 42 [interquartile range 34–47] years, infections were discovered in 90 (28%, venous thrombotic events in 13 (4%, cardiac complications in 4 (1%, renal failure in 59 (18%, hypoglycemia in 15 (5%, hyperglycemia in 165 (51%, hyponatremia in 146 (45%, hypernatremia in 91 (28%, hypopotassemia in 104 (32%, and hyperpotassemia in 27 (8%. Adjusted for known ICH prognosticators and diabetes, the only independent complication associated with 3-month mortality was hyperglycemia (plasma glucose >8.0 mmol/L (odds ratio: 5.90, 95% confidence interval: 2.25–15.48, P<0.001. Three or more separate complications suffered also associated with increased mortality (7.76, 1.42–42.49, P=0.018. Conclusions. Hyperglycemia is a frequent complication of ICH in young adults and is independently associated with increased mortality. However, multiple separate complications increase mortality even further.

INTRODUCTION: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a cardiac epidemic. In this study, we aimed to describe the causes of hospital-isation in an AF population over time and to study how different AF treatment strategies affected hospitalization. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was an observational study in which...... hospitalisations were evaluated. RESULTS: The causes of hospitalisation shifted over time. We observed a lower proportion of admissions due to AF in OP2 (63%) than in OP1 (87%) and a higher proportion of admissions due to congestive heart failure (16% versus 3%) and of days of inpatient care due to ischaemic...... causes of hospitalisation in an AF population shifted from AF relapse to the most frequent complications of AF, ischaemic stroke and congestive heart failure. In this observational study, patients treated with rhythm control were more frequently hospitalised than patients treated with rate control...

Full Text Available John-Michael Gamble,1,* Jill J Hall,2,* Thomas J Marrie,3 Cheryl A Sadowski,2 Sumit R Majumdar,4 Dean T Eurich5 1School of Pharmacy, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John's, NL, 2Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, 3Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, 4Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, 5School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada *These authors contributed equally to this work Background/objective: Medication changes at transitions of care and polypharmacy are growing concerns that adversely impact optimal drug use. We aimed to describe transitions and patterns of medication use before and 1 year after older patients were hospitalized for community-acquired pneumonia, the second-most common reason for admission in North America. Materials and methods: This was an analysis of a population-based clinical registry of patients treated in any of the six hospitals or seven emergency departments in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, comprising 2,105 patients 65 years and older with community-acquired pneumonia who had survived at least 1 year. The prevalence of polypharmacy (five or more unique prescription drugs, as well as new use and persistence of common drug classes were assessed. Results: The mean age was 78 years (standard deviation 8 years, 50% were female, 62% were hospitalized, and 58% had severe pneumonia. Among the 2,105 patients, 949 (45% were using five or more medications prior to hospitalization, increasing to 1,559 (74% within 90 days postdischarge and remaining over 70% at 1 year. Overall, 1,690 (80% patients newly started and 1,553 (74% patients stopped at least one medication in the first 90 days of follow-up. The prevalence of the most common drug classes (ie, cardiovascular, alimentary/metabolism remained stable, with the exception of anti-infective agents, whereby 25% of patients were dispensed an anti-infective agent 3 months to 1 year

Full Text Available Abstract Background This study investigated the incidence of potentially preventable hospitalisations in the first two years of life among children in the National Health Insurance (NHI system of Taiwan. It also examined income disparities in potentially preventable hospitalisations across four economic categories: below a government-established poverty line and low-, middle-, and upper-income. Five major diseases causing potentially preventable hospitalisations were investigated: gastroenteritis and dehydration, asthma and chronic bronchitis, acute upper respiratory infections, lower respiratory infections, and acute injuries and poisonings. Methods NHI data on enrolee registrations and use of ambulatory and hospital care by all children born between July 1, 2003 and June 30, 2004 (n = 218,158 was used for the study. The negative binomial regression method was used to identify factors associated with total inpatient care and the severity level for various types of potentially preventable hospitalisations during the first two years of life. Results This study found high inpatient expenses for lower respiratory infections for children in all income categories. Furthermore, results from the multivariate analysis indicate that children in the lowest economic category used inpatient care to a much greater extent than better-off children for problems considered potentially avoidable through primary prevention or through timely outpatient care. This was especially true for acute injuries and poisonings and for lower respiratory infections. On average, and controlling for other variables, a child in poverty spent 6.1 times more days in inpatient care for acute injuries and poisonings (p Conclusions There were high hospital admission rates and lengths of stays for lower respiratory infections among young children in all income categories. Hospital care use of young children in the poorest category was significantly higher for acute injuries and

INTRODUCTION: Adverse drug events (ADEs) are associated with inappropriate prescribing (IP) and result in increased morbidity, mortality and resource utilisation. We used Beers\\' Criteria to determine the three-month prevalence of IP in a non-selected community-dwelling population of acutely ill older people requiring hospitalisation. METHODS: A prospective, observational study of 597 consecutive acute admissions was performed. Diagnoses and concurrent medications were recorded before hospital physician intervention, and Beers\\' Criteria applied. RESULTS: Mean patient age (SD) was 77 (7) years. Median number of medications was 5, range 0-13. IP occurred in 32% of patients (n = 191), with 24%, 6% and 2% taking 1, 2 and 3 inappropriate medications respectively. Patients taking >5 medications were 3.3 times more likely to receive an inappropriate medication than those taking < or =5 medications (OR 3.34: 95%, CI 2.37-4.79; P<0.001). Forty-nine per cent of patients with inappropriate prescriptions were admitted with adverse effects of the inappropriate medications. Sixteen per cent of all admissions were associated with such adverse effects. CONCLUSION: IP is highly prevalent in acutely ill older patients and is associated with polypharmacy and hospitalisation. However, Beers\\' Criteria cannot be used as a gold standard as they do not comprehensively address all aspects of IP in older people.

Background Acute lower respiratory infections (ALRIs) are leading causes of hospitalisation in children. Birth defects occur in 5% of live births in Western Australia (WA). The association between birth defects and ALRI hospitalisation is unknown. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 245,249 singleton births in WA (1996-2005). Population-based hospitalisation data were linked to the WA Register of Developmental Anomalies to investigate ALRI hospitalisations in children with an...

There are numerous speculations about famous artists and how their perception was affected by their medical conditions. In this study, we examined how illness and hospitalisation affect children's art. A total of 157 paintings by 122 hospitalised children were interpreted by three reputed artists. Works of ill children were compared with those of a control group from an international art exhibition. We also comment on how diseases influenced the technique of famous artists to further examine the possible impact of illness on the artistry of hospitalised children. Developmental delay in painting was evident in the study group. Use of ready-made schemas was a common practice (55%). 56% of the work from patients older than eight years failed in perspective and site perception. The theme in 89% of the drawings had no human figures. Projection of self sufferings, prominent elementary lines, and reflection of distorted perception could be clearly recognised in various study materials; anxiety about assigned surgery was exhibited by scribbling. There exists a close relationship between medicine and humanities. The interpretation of fine art from a medical perspective may help to increase our appreciation of the suffering of an individual. It is obvious that diseases change the artistic style and inner perspective. The question is how do healthcare specialists view this? PMID:20120269

in both parents were associated with elevated risk of offspring schizophrenia; in addition, maternal schizophrenia, affective disorder and personality disorder were associated with elevated risk. Controlling for parental age, parental social status, and parental psychiatric co-diagnosis, offspring risk...... of schizophrenia and a range of psychotic and non-psychotic psychiatric diagnoses in parents. Psychiatric admission data after 1969 were available for 7047 cohort members born between 1959 and 1961, and for 7006 mothers and 6993 fathers. Univariate analysis showed that neurosis, alcohol and substance dependence...... of schizophrenia was associated with maternal schizophrenia (OR = 15.41 with 95% CI 5.96-39.81) and, independently, with paternal hospitalisation with neurosis (OR = 5.90 with 95% CI 2.23-15.62). The risk of schizophrenia associated with paternal neurosis remained significant after excluding offspring of parents...

Full Text Available No abstract available. Article truncated after 150 words. An 85-year-old gentleman with the past medical history significant for hypertension, smoking, and coronary artery disease presented to the emergency department (ED with complains of sudden onset of chest pain. His pain was described as squeezing and radiating to the back, associated with nausea and vomiting. His chest pain improved with nitroglycerin in ED. Chest x-ray showed a tortuous aortic knob and widened mediastinum. He underwent a CT angiogram, which showed, Stanford Type B aortic dissection, from distal aortic arch to renal arteries (Figure 1. He was managed in the hospital conservatively with tight blood pressure control given the type of dissection and no surgical intervention was done. He was uneventfully discharged with follow up arranged with vascular surgery. Aortic dissection is classified by Stanford Criteria as Type A which involves the ascending aorta and arch and Type B when it involves the descending aorta. Type A dissection is a ...

Objective: Anthroposophic medications (AMED) are widely used, but safety data on AMED from large prospective studies are sparse. The objective of this analysis was to determine the frequency of adverse drug reactions (ADR) to AMED in outpatients using AMED for acute respiratory and ear infections.Methods: A prospective four-week observational cohort study was conducted in 21 primary care practices in Europe and the U.S.A. The cohort comprised 715 consecutive outpatients aged 1 month, treated ...

Acute uterine bleeding unrelated to pregnancy has been defined as bleeding “sufficient in volume as to, in the opinion of the treating clinician, require urgent or emergent intervention.” The Southern California Permanente Medical Group updated its guidelines for the management of this condition on the basis of the best available evidence, as identified in a systematic review of the available literature. Given the paucity of studies evaluating this condition, the guidelines, by necessity, inc...

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication in hospitalized patients. There are few comparative studies on hospital-acquired AKI (HAAKI) in medical, surgical, and ICU patients. This study was conducted to compare the epidemiological characteristics, clinical profiles, and outcomes of HAAKI among these three units. All adult patients (>18 years) of either gender who developed AKI based on RIFLE criteria (using serum creatinine), 48 h after hospitalization were included in the study. Pat...

Although several studies have reported an increase of syphilis incidence over the last decade in Western Europe, information concerning syphilis epidemiology in Portugal remains scarce. Therefore, we sought to characterise acquired syphilis-associated hospitalisations in Portugal according to demographic and clinical data. We used a database containing all hospitalisations that occurred in mainland Portugal public hospitals with discharges between 2000 and 2014. We analysed all hospitalisations associated with ICD-9-CM codes 091-097.x (corresponding to acquired syphilis diagnosis) concerning inpatients' gender, age and comorbidities. The median length of stay and in-hospital mortality rates were also studied. Between 2000 and 2014, there were a total of 8974 syphilis-related hospitalisations in mainland Portugal. The rate of acquired syphilis hospitalisations per 100,000 inhabitants increased by 33 % during the studied period. Syphilis hospitalisation rates increased by 70 % in males and 139 % among patients aged over 55 years. On the other hand, they declined by 10 % in females and 20 % among patients younger than 55 years old. The percentage of syphilis episodes presenting cardiovascular and neuropsychiatric comorbidities increased, while the percentage of syphilis episodes presenting HIV co-infection decreased by 69 %. A fatal outcome was reported in 5 % of episodes; 4.6 % of them had acquired syphilis as the main reason for hospitalisation. This study illustrates that, despite being a preventable infection, syphilis remains a public health problem. The analysis of hospitalisation and administrative data helps to understand syphilis epidemiology and provides a supplement to traditional case notifications. PMID:26581424

This study aims at investigating medication literacy of discharged patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in China, and the important determinants of medication literacy among them. For this purpose, we conducted a prospective cohort study. Patient's demographic and clinical data were retrieved from hospital charts and medication literacy was measured by instructed interview using the Chinese version of Medication Literacy Questionnaire on Discharged Patient between 7 and 30 days after the patient was discharged from the hospital. The results show that medication literacy for the surveyed patients was insufficient: >20% did not have adequate knowledge on the types of drugs and the frequency that they need to take the drugs, >30% did not know the name of and the dosage of the drugs they are taking, and >70% did not have adequate knowledge on the effects and side effects of the drugs they are taking. Our research indicated that medication literacy scores decreased with age but increased with education. The number of medicines the discharged patient took with them and days between discharge and interview were not associated with medication literacy levels. PMID:27428990

This study aims at investigating medication literacy of discharged patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in China, and the important determinants of medication literacy among them. For this purpose, we conducted a prospective cohort study. Patient’s demographic and clinical data were retrieved from hospital charts and medication literacy was measured by instructed interview using the Chinese version of Medication Literacy Questionnaire on Discharged Patient between 7 and 30 days after the patient was discharged from the hospital. The results show that medication literacy for the surveyed patients was insufficient: >20% did not have adequate knowledge on the types of drugs and the frequency that they need to take the drugs, >30% did not know the name of and the dosage of the drugs they are taking, and >70% did not have adequate knowledge on the effects and side effects of the drugs they are taking. Our research indicated that medication literacy scores decreased with age but increased with education. The number of medicines the discharged patient took with them and days between discharge and interview were not associated with medication literacy levels. PMID:27428990

BACKGROUND: The use of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) is common in the older population. Inappropriate medications as well as polypharmacy expose older people to a greater risk of adverse drug reactions and may result in hospitalizations. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of PIMs......, handgrip strength, health-related quality of life, visual acuity, days of hospitalization, and comorbidities, and was prospectively collected. Polypharmacy was defined as regular use of 5 or more drugs. The Charlson Comorbidity Index was used to categorize comorbidities. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The...... exposed to polypharmacy. PIMs were used by 85 % of patients, and PIMs were associated with low functional status (p = 0.032), low handgrip strength (p = 0.006), and reduced health-related quality of life (p = 0.005), but not comorbidities (p = 0.63), age (p = 0.60), sex (p = 0.53), education (p = 0...

At 14:46 on March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami occurred off the coast of Honshu, Japan. In the acute phase of this catastrophe, one of our teams was deployed as a Tokyo Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) to Kudan Kaikan in Tokyo, where the ceiling of a large hall had partially collapsed as the result of the earthquake, to conduct triage at the scene: 6 casualties were assigned to the red category (immediate), which included 1 case of cardiopulmonary arrest and 1 of flail chest; 8 casualties in the yellow category (delayed); and 22 casualties in the green category (minor). One severely injured person was transported to our hospital. Separately, our medical team was deployed to Miyagi 2 hours after the earthquake in our multipurpose medical vehicle as part of Japan DMAT (J-DMAT). We were the first DMAT from the metropolitan area to arrive, but we were unable to start medical relief activities because the information infrastructure had been destroyed and no specific information had yet reached the local headquarters. Early next morning, J-DMAT decided to support Sendai Medical Center and search and rescue efforts in the affected area and to establish a staging care unit at Camp Kasuminome of the Japan Self-Defense Force. Our team joined others to establish the staging care unit. Because information was still confused until day 3 of the disaster and we could not adequately grasp onsite medical needs, our J-DMAT decided to provide onsite support at Ishinomaki Red Cross Hospital, a disaster base hospital, and relay information about its needs to the local J-DMAT headquarters. Although our medical relief teams were deployed as quickly as possible, we could not begin medical relief activities immediately owing to the severely damaged information infrastructure. Only satellite mobile phones could be operated, and information on the number of casualties and the severity of shortages of lifeline services could be obtained only through a "go and

Recent progress in the treatment of primary headaches has made available specific, effective and safe medications for these disorders, which are widely spread among the general population. One of the negative consequences of this undoubtedly positive progress is the risk of drug-drug interactions. This review is the first in a two-part series on pharmacokinetic drug-drug interactions of headache medications. Part I addresses acute treatments. Part II focuses on prophylactic treatments. The overall aim of this series is to increase the awareness of physicians, either primary care providers or specialists, regarding this topic. Pharmacokinetic drug-drug interactions of major severity involving acutemedications are a minority among those reported in literature. The main drug combinations to avoid are: i) NSAIDs plus drugs with a narrow therapeutic range (i.e., digoxin, methotrexate, etc.); ii) sumatriptan, rizatriptan or zolmitriptan plus monoamine oxidase inhibitors; iii) substrates and inhibitors of CYP2D6 (i.e., chlorpromazine, metoclopramide, etc.) and -3A4 (i.e., ergot derivatives, eletriptan, etc.), as well as other substrates or inhibitors of the same CYP isoenzymes. The risk of having clinically significant pharmacokinetic drug-drug interactions seems to be limited in patients with low frequency headaches, but could be higher in chronic headache sufferers with medication overuse. PMID:17125411

Background Medical Faculties Network (MEFANET) has established itself as the authority for setting standards for medical educators in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, 2 independent countries with similar languages that once comprised a federation and that still retain the same curricular structure for medical education. One of the basic goals of the network is to advance medical teaching and learning with the use of modern information and communication technologies. Objective We present the education portal AKUTNE.CZ as an important part of the MEFANET’s content. Our focus is primarily on simulation-based tools for teaching and learning acute medicine issues. Methods Three fundamental elements of the MEFANET e-publishing system are described: (1) medical disciplines linker, (2) authentication/authorization framework, and (3) multidimensional quality assessment. A new set of tools for technology-enhanced learning have been introduced recently: Sandbox (works in progress), WikiLectures (collaborative content authoring), Moodle-MEFANET (central learning management system), and Serious Games (virtual casuistics and interactive algorithms). The latest development in MEFANET is designed for indexing metadata about simulation-based learning objects, also known as electronic virtual patients or virtual clinical cases. The simulations assume the form of interactive algorithms for teaching and learning acute medicine. An anonymous questionnaire of 10 items was used to explore students’ attitudes and interests in using the interactive algorithms as part of their medical or health care studies. Data collection was conducted over 10 days in February 2013. Results In total, 25 interactive algorithms in the Czech and English languages have been developed and published on the AKUTNE.CZ education portal to allow the users to test and improve their knowledge and skills in the field of acute medicine. In the feedback survey, 62 participants completed the online questionnaire (13

Full Text Available Abstract Background Acute chest pain is a frequently occurring symptom in patients with medical emergencies and imposes potentially life threatening situations outside hospitals. Little is known about the epidemiology of patients with acute chest pain in a primary care setting in Norway, and we aimed to obtain more representative data on such patients using data from emergency medical communication centres (EMCCs. Methods Data were collected prospectively during three months in 2007 from three EMCCs, covering 816 000 inhabitants. The EMCCs gathered information on every situation that was triaged as a red response (defined as an "acute" response, with the highest priority, according to the Norwegian Index of Medical Emergencies. Records from ambulances and primary care doctors were subsequently collected. International Classification of Primary Care - 2 symptom codes and The National Committee on Aeronautics (NACA System scores were assigned retrospectively. Only chest pain patients were included in the study. Results 5 180 patients were involved in red response situations, of which 21% had chest pain. Estimated rate was 5.4 chest pain cases per 1000 inhabitants per year. NACA-scores indicated that 26% of the patients were in a life-threatening medical situation. Median prehospital response time was 13 minutes; an ambulance reached the patient in less than 10 minutes in 30% of the cases. Seventy-six per cent of the patients with chest pain were admitted to a hospital for further investigation, 14% received final treatment at a casualty clinic, while 10% had no further investigation by a doctor ("left at the scene". Conclusions The majority of patients with acute chest pain were admitted to a hospital for further investigation, but only a quarter of the patients were assessed prehospitally to have a severe illness. This sheds light on the challenges for the EMCCs in deciding the appropriate level of response in patients with acute chest pain

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Most studies investigating disability outcomes following injury have examined hospitalised patients. It is not known whether variables associated with disability outcomes are similar for injured people who are not hospitalised. AIMS: This paper compares the prevalence of disability 24 months after injury for participants in the Prospective Outcomes of Injury Study who were hospitalised and those non-hospitalised, and also seeks to identify pre-injury and injury-related predictors of disability among hospitalised and non-hospitalised participants. METHODS: Participants, aged 18-64 years, were recruited from an injury claims register managed by New Zealand's no-fault injury compensation insurer after referral by health care professionals. A wide range of pre-injury socio-demographic, health and psychosocial characteristics were collected, as well as injury-related characteristics; outcome is assessed using the WHODAS. Multivariable models estimating relative risks of disability for hospitalised and non-hospitalised participants were developed using Poisson regression methods. RESULTS: Of 2856 participants, analyses were restricted to 2184 (76% participants for whom both pre-injury and 24 month WHODAS data were available. Of these, 25% were hospitalised. In both hospitalised and non-hospitalised groups, 13% experience disability (WHODAS≥10 24 months after injury; higher than pre-injury (5%. Of 28 predictor variables, seven independently placed injured participants in the hospitalised group at increased risk of disability 24 months after injury; eight in the non-hospitalised. Only four predictors (pre-injury disability, two or more pre-injury chronic conditions, pre-injury BMI≥30 and trouble accessing healthcare services were common to both the hospitalised and non-hospitalised groups. There is some evidence to suggest that among the hospitalised group, Māori have higher risk of disability relative to non-Māori. CONCLUSIONS: At

Parents of children with medical complexity have described being responsible for providing advanced care for the child. When the child is acutely ill, they must rely on the health-care services during short or long periods of hospitalization. The purpose of this study was to describe parental experiences of caring for their child with medical complexity during hospitalization for acute deterioration, specifically focussing on parental needs and their experiences of the attitudes of staff. Data were gathered through individual interviews and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The care period can be interpreted as a balancing act between acting as a caregiver and being in need of care. The parents needed skilled staff who could relieve them of medical responsibility, but they wanted to be involved in the care and in the decisions taken. They needed support, including relief, in order to meet their own needs and to be able to take care of their children. It was important that the child was treated with respect in order for the parent to trust the staff. An approach where staff view parents and children as a single unit, as recipients of care, would probably make the situation easier for these parents and children. PMID:25352538

Objective Rape is associated with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and related comorbidities. Most victims do not obtain treatment for these conditions. Acute care medical settings are well-positioned to link patients to services; however, difficulty engaging victims and low attendance at provided follow-up appointments is well documented. Identifying factors associated with follow-up can inform engagement and linkage strategies. Method Administrative, patient self-report, and provider observational data from Harborview Medical Center were combined for the analysis. Using logistic regression, we examined factors associated with follow-up health service utilization after seeking services for rape in the emergency department. Results Of the 521 diverse female (n=476) and male (n=45) rape victims, 28% attended the recommended medical/counseling follow-up appointment. In the final (adjusted) logistic regression model, having a developmental or other disability (OR=0.40, 95% CI=0.21-0.77), having a current mental illness (OR=0.25, 95% CI=0.13-0.49), and being assaulted in public (OR=0.50, 95% CI=0.28-0.87) were uniquely associated with reduced odds of attending the follow-up. Having a prior mental health condition (OR= 3.02 95% CI=1.86-4.91), a completed SANE examination (OR=2.97, 95% CI=1.84-4.81), and social support available to help cope with the assault (OR=3.54, 95% CI=1.76-7.11) were associated with an increased odds of attending the follow-up. Conclusions Findings point to relevant characteristics ascertained at the acute care medical visit for rape that may be used to identify victims less likely to obtain posttraumatic medical and mental health services. Efforts to improve service linkage among these patients is warranted and may require alternative models to engage these patients to support posttraumatic recovery. PMID:26168030

Medical management during acute period in a case of severe local radiation injury after acute X-ray exposure includes 3 stages. During the fist stage patient got conservative treatment according to the common pathogenetic mechanisms of LRI (dis aggregating therapy, stimulation of regeneration, dis intoxication therapy, antibiotic therapy, pain relief therapy, Local anti-burn therapy-specific non-adhesive bandage with antiseptic and anti-burn medicaments); estimation of severity, deepness and area of injury by clinical picture and dates of instrumental methods of examining; defining necessity and volume of surgical treatment; preparing arrangements for surgical treatment. This stage ends with forming of demarcation line of a very hard severity of a Local Radiation Injure. The second stage includes necrectomy of the area of a very hard severity with microsurgical plastic by re vascularized flap and auto dermoplastic. The third stage - adaptation of re vascularized flap and total epithelization of injured area. (author)

After a radiological or nuclear event, acute radiation syndrome (ARS) will present complex medical challenges that could involve the treatment of hundreds to thousands of patients. Current medical doctrine is based on limited clinical data and remains inadequate. Efforts to develop medical innovations that address ARS complications are unlikely to be generated by the industry because of market uncertainties specific to this type of injury. A prospective strategy could be the integration of cellular therapy to meet the medical demands of ARS. The most clinically advanced cellular therapy to date is the administration of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Results of currently published investigations describing MSC safety and efficacy in a variety of injury and disease models demonstrate the unique qualities of this reparative cell population in adapting to the specific requirements of the damaged tissue in which the cells integrate. This report puts forward a rationale for the further evaluation of MSC therapy to address the current unmet medical needs of ARS. We propose that the exploration of this novel therapy for the treatment of the multivariate complications of ARS could be of invaluable benefit to military medicine.

Full Text Available Objective: Anthroposophic medications (AMED are widely used, but safety data on AMED from large prospective studies are sparse. The objective of this analysis was to determine the frequency of adverse drug reactions (ADR to AMED in outpatients using AMED for acute respiratory and ear infections.Methods: A prospective four-week observational cohort study was conducted in 21 primary care practices in Europe and the U.S.A. The cohort comprised 715 consecutive outpatients aged 1 month, treated by anthroposophic physicians for acute otitis and respiratory infections. Physicians’ prescription data and patient reports of adverse events were analyzed. Main outcome measures were use of AMED and ADR to AMED.Results: Two patients had confirmed ADR to AMED: 1 swelling and redness at the injection site after subcutaneous injections of Prunus spinosa 5%, 2 sleeplessness after intake of Pneumodoron® 2 liquid. These ADR lasted one and two days respectively; both subsided after dose reduction; none were unexpected; none were serious. The frequency of confirmed ADR to AMED was 0.61% (2/327 of all different AMED used, 0.28% (2/715 of patients, and 0.004% (3/73,443 of applications.Conclusion: In this prospective study, anthroposophic medications used by primary care patients with acute respiratory or ear infections were well tolerated.Abbreviations: A-: anthroposophy; ADR: adverse drug reactions; AE: adverse events; AM: anthroposophic medicine; AMED: AM medication; C-: conventional; ENE-patients: eligible, not enrolled patients; IIPCOS: International Primary Care Outcomes Study

and 3 weeks after discharge. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study has been approved by the Regional Scientific Ethical Committees of Southern Denmark in February 2014. The study findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at national and international conferences. TRIAL......INTRODUCTION: Illness and hospitalisation, even of short duration, pose separate risks for permanently reduced functional performance in elderly medical patients. Functional assessment in the acute pathway will ensure early detection of declining performance and form the basis for mobilisation...... during hospitalisation and subsequent rehabilitation. For optimal results rehabilitation should begin immediately after discharge.The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of a systematic functional assessment in the emergency department (ED) of elderly medical patients with reduced functional...

In the winter of 2005–2006, the management at our children's hospital elected to admit ‘overspill’ acutemedical admissions to the ward used for plastic surgery and burns for logistical reasons. This study was conducted to assess the effects of that change on the incidence of infective complications in thermally-injured patients. Seventy-three patients were studied, 23 in the sample winter and 50 in the two preceding control winters. The data gathered included days on IV fluids and antibiotic...

AIM:To determine the prevalence of delayed gastric emptying (GE) in older patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus.METHODS:One hundred and forty seven patients with Type 2 diabetes,of whom 140 had been hospitalised,mean age 62.3±8.0 years,HbA1c 9.1%±1.9%,treated with either oral hypoglycemic drugs or insulin were studied.GE of a solid meal(scintigraphy),autonomic nerve function,upper gastrointestinal symptoms,acute and chronic glycemic control were evaluated.Gastric emptying results were compared to a control range of hospitalised patients who did not have diabetes.RESULTS:Gastric emptying was delayed(T50＞85 min)in 17.7% patients.Mean gastric emptying was slower in females(T50 72.1±72.1 rain vs 56.9±68.1 min,P=0.02)and in those reporting nausea(112.3±67.3 vs 62.7±70.0 min,P＜0.01)and early satiety(114.0±135.2vs 61.1±62.6 min,P=0.02).There was no correlation between GE with age,body weight,duration of diabetes,neuropathy,current glycemia or the total score for upper gastrointestinal symptoms.CONCLUSION:Prolonged GE occurs in about 20% of hospitalisecl elderly patients with Type 2 diabetes when compared to hospitalised patients who do not have diabetes.Female gender,nausea and early satiety are associated with higher probability of delayed GE.

Full Text Available Abstract Background Information on the neonatal exposure to excipients is limited. Our aim was to describe the extent of excipient intake by Estonian neonates; to classify the excipients according to potential neonatal toxicity and thereby to measure the extent of exposure of neonates to potentially harmful excipients. Methods A prospective cohort study that recorded all medicines prescribed to patients aged below 28 days admitted to Tartu University Hospital from 01.02-01.08 2008 and to Tallinn Children’s Hospital from 01.02- 01.08 2009 was conducted. Excipients were identified from Summaries of Product Characteristics and classified according to toxicity following a literature review. Results 1961 prescriptions comprising 107 medicines were written for 348/490 neonates admitted. A total of 123 excipients were found in 1620 (83% prescriptions and 93 (87% medicines. 47 (38% of these excipients were classified as potentially or known to be harmful to neonates. Most neonates (97% received at least one medicine (median number 2 with potentially or known to be harmful excipient. Parabens were the most commonly used known to be harmful excipients and sodium metabisulphite the most commonly used potentially harmful excipient, received by 343 (99% and 297 (85% of treated neonates, respectively. Conclusions Hospitalised neonates in Estonia are commonly receiving a wide range of excipients with their medication. Quantitative information about excipients should be made available to pharmacists and neonatologists helping them to take into account excipient issues when selecting medicines and to monitor for adverse effects if administration of medicines containing excipients is unavoidable.

Pollution levels and the effect of air pollution on human health can be modified by synoptic weather type and aeroallergens. We investigated the effect modification of aeroallergens on the association between CO, O3, NO2, SO2, PM10, PM2.5 and asthma hospitalisation rates in seven synoptic weather types. We developed single air pollutant models, adjusted for the effect of aeroallergens and stratified by synoptic weather type, and pooled relative risk estimates for asthma hospitalisation in ten Canadian cities. Aeroallergens significantly modified the relative risk in 19 pollutant-weather type combinations, reducing the size and variance for each single pollutant model. However, aeroallergens did not significantly modify relative risk for any pollutant in the DT or MT weather types, or for PM10 in any weather type. Thus, there is a modifying effect of aeroallergens on the association between CO, O3, NO2, SO2, PM2.5 and asthma hospitalisations that differs under specific synoptic weather types. - Highlights: • We model effect modification of aeroallergens on air pollutant–asthma association. • The air pollutant association was modelled in seven synoptic weather types. • Aeroallergens modify CO, O3, NO2, SO2, and PM2.5 effect on asthma hospitalisations. • Synoptic weather types modify the air pollutant and asthma association. - We identify a modifying effect of aeroallergens on the relationship between air pollutants and hospitalisation rates for asthma, that differs under specific synoptic weather types

Full Text Available Bradford L McDaniel,1 Michael L Bentley1,2 1Department of Pharmacy, Carilion Clinic, Roanoke, VA, USA; 2Department of Biomedical Science, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, Roanoke, VA, USA Abstract: Prior to 2002, the incidence of acute renal failure (ARF varied as there was no standard definition. To better understand its incidence and etiology and to develop treatment and prevention strategies, while moving research forward, the Acute Dialysis Quality Initiative workgroup developed the RIFLE (risk, injury, failure, loss, end-stage kidney disease classification. After continued data suggesting that even small increases in serum creatinine lead to worse outcomes, the Acute Kidney Injury Network (AKIN modified the RIFLE criteria and used the term acute kidney injury (AKI instead of ARF. These classification and staging systems provide the clinician and researcher a starting point for refining the understanding and treatment of AKI. An important initial step in evaluating AKI is determining the likely location of injury, generally classified as prerenal, renal, or postrenal. There is no single biomarker or test that definitively defines the mechanism of the injury. Identifying the insult(s requires a thorough assessment of the patient and their medical and medication histories. Prerenal injuries arise primarily due to renal hypoperfusion. This may be the result of systemic or focal conditions or secondary to the effects of drugs such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, calcineurin inhibitors (CIs, and modulators of the renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system. Renal, or intrinsic, injury is an overarching term that represents complex conditions leading to considerable damage to a component of the intrinsic renal system (renal tubules, glomerulus, vascular structures, interstitium, or renal tubule obstruction. Acute tubular necrosis and acute interstitial nephritis are the more common types of intrinsic renal injury. Each type of

Full Text Available Abstract Background In spite of increasing efforts to enhance patient safety, medication errors in hospitalised patients are still relatively common, but with potentially severe consequences. This study aimed to assess antineoplastic medication errors in both affected patients and intercepted cases in terms of frequency, severity for patients, and costs. Methods A 1-year prospective study was conducted in order to identify the medication errors that occurred during chemotherapy treatment of cancer patients at a French university hospital. The severity and potential consequences of intercepted errors were independently assessed by two physicians. A cost analysis was performed using a simulation of potential hospital stays, with estimations based on the costs of diagnosis-related groups. Results Among the 6, 607 antineoplastic prescriptions, 341 (5.2% contained at least one error, corresponding to a total of 449 medication errors. However, most errors (n = 436 were intercepted before medication was administered to the patients. Prescription errors represented 91% of errors, followed by pharmaceutical (8% and administration errors (1%. According to an independent estimation, 13.4% of avoided errors would have resulted in temporary injury and 2.6% in permanent damage, while 2.6% would have compromised the vital prognosis of the patient, with four to eight deaths thus being avoided. Overall, 13 medication errors reached the patient without causing damage, although two patients required enhanced monitoring. If the intercepted errors had not been discovered, they would have resulted in 216 additional days of hospitalisation and cost an estimated annual total of 92, 907€, comprising 69, 248€ (74% in hospital stays and 23, 658€ (26% in additional drugs. Conclusion Our findings point to the very small number of chemotherapy errors that actually reach patients, although problems in the chemotherapy ordering process are frequent, with the potential

Background: Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), a malignancy of lymphoid lineage cells, has excellent prognosis in children. In Pakistan, a few studies highlighted the response of ALL to chemotherapy. The Present study was planned to see the response rate of Pakistani children with ALL to Medical Research Council ALL 97 (MRCALL97) chemotherapy protocol. This descriptive case series was conducted at the Department of Haematology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and the Department of Paediatric Oncology, Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi from February 16, 2007 to August 16, 2007. Methods: Diagnosed children with ALL fulfilling the inclusion criteria were interviewed regarding history of the present, past illnesses, and family history. Physical examination was performed. Presenting clinical features, blood counts and blood and bone marrow blasts percentage were used to see the response on day 29 post chemotherapy. The data was recorded on a structured proforma for statistical analysis. Results: A total of 33 patients were studied including 26 males and 7 females. Twenty-five patients belonged to age group 2-9 years, and 8 to 9 years, median age being 4.5 years. Presenting WBC count was 50 X 10/sup 9/L in 3 patients. At the end of induction, complete remission was achieved in 31 out of 33 (94%) patients while two patients did not achieve remission. Conclusion: Response rate of Pakistani children with ALL to chemotherapy was superior to the previously reported figures from Pakistan. (author)

To determine the frequency of and possible factors related to contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) in hospitalised patients with cancer. Ninety adult patients were enrolled. Patients with risk factors for acute renal failure were excluded. Blood samples were examined the day before contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) and serially for 3 days thereafter. CIN was defined as an increase in serum creatinine (Cr) of 0.5 mg/dl or more, or elevation of Cr to 25 % over baseline. Relationships between CIN and possible risk factors were investigated. CIN was detected in 18/90 (20 %) patients. CIN developed in 25.5 % patients who underwent chemotherapy and in 11 % patients who did not (P = 0.1). CIN more frequently developed in patients who had undergone CT within 45 days after the last chemotherapy (P = 0.005); it was also an independent risk factor (P = 0.017). CIN was significantly more after treatment with bevacizumab/irinotecan (P = 0.021) and in patients with hypertension (P = 0.044). The incidence of CIN after CT in hospitalised oncological patients was 20 %. CIN developed 4.5-times more frequently in patients with cancer who had undergone recent chemotherapy. Hypertension and the combination of bevacizumab/irinotecan may be additional risk factors for CIN development. (orig.)

Oral triptans are effective and well tolerated acute treatments for migraine, but clinical differences between them are small and difficult to measure in conventional clinical trials. Patient preference assesses a global measure of efficacy and tolerability, and may be a more sensitive means of distinguishing between these drugs. In a series of studies, patients consistently expressed a clear preference for triptans over their usual non–triptan acutemedications, e.g., analgesics and ergotami...

Full Text Available Abstract Background While there is interest in measuring the satisfaction of patients discharged from psychiatric hospitals, it might be important to determine whether surveys of psychiatric patients should employ generic or psychiatry-specific instruments. The aim of this study was to compare two psychiatric-specific and one generic questionnaires assessing patients' satisfaction after a hospitalisation in a psychiatric hospital. Methods We randomised adult patients discharged from two Swiss psychiatric university hospitals between April and September 2004, to receive one of three instruments: the Saphora-Psy questionnaire, the Perceptions of Care survey questionnaire or the Picker Institute questionnaire for acute care hospitals. In addition to the comparison of response rates, completion time, mean number of missing items and mean ceiling effect, we targeted our comparison on patients and asked them to answer ten evaluation questions about the questionnaire they had just completed. Results 728 out of 1550 eligible patients (47% participated in the study. Across questionnaires, response rates were similar (Saphora-Psy: 48.5%, Perceptions of Care: 49.9%, Picker: 43.4%; P = 0.08, average completion time was lowest for the Perceptions of Care questionnaire (minutes: Saphora-Psy: 17.7, Perceptions of Care: 13.7, Picker: 17.5; P = 0.005, the Saphora-Psy questionnaire had the largest mean proportion of missing responses (Saphora-Psy: 7.1%, Perceptions of Care: 2.8%, Picker: 4.0%; P P Conclusion Despite differences in the intended target population, content, lay-out and length of questionnaires, none appeared to be obviously better based on our comparison. All three presented advantages and drawbacks and could be used for the satisfaction evaluation of psychiatric inpatients. However, if comparison across medical services or hospitals is desired, using a generic questionnaire might be advantageous.

The advent of new cell-based immunotherapies for leukemia offers treatment possibilities for certain leukemia subgroups. The wider acceptability of these new technologies in clinical practice will depend on its impact on survival and costs. Due to the small patient groups who have received it, these aspects have remained understudied. This non-randomized single-center study evaluated medical costs and survival for acute myeloid leukemia between 2005 and 2010 in 50 patients: patients treated with induction and consolidation chemotherapy (ICT) alone; patients treated with ICT plus allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT), which is the current preferred post-remission therapy in patients with intermediate- and poor-risk AML with few co-morbidities, and patients treated with ICT plus immunotherapy using autologous dendritic cells (DC) engineered to express the Wilms' tumor protein (WT1). Total costs including post- consolidation costs on medical care at the hematology ward and outpatient clinic, pharmaceutical prescriptions, intensive care ward, laboratory tests and medical imaging were analyzed. Survival was markedly better in HCT and DC. HCT and DC were more costly than ICT. The median total costs for HCT and DC were similar. These results need to be confirmed to enable more thorough cost-effectiveness analyses, based on observations from multicenter, randomized clinical trials and preferably using quality-adjusted life-years as an outcome measure. PMID:27111858

Many studies reporting nurses' knowledge of and attitudes toward older patients in long-term care settings have used instruments designed for older people. However, nurses' attitudes toward older patients are not as positive as their attitudes toward older people. Few studies investigate acute care nurses' knowledge of and attitudes toward older patients. In order to address these shortcomings, a self-report questionnaire was developed to determine nurses' knowledge of, and attitudes and practices toward, older patients in both rural and metropolitan acute care settings. Rural nurses were more knowledgeable about older patients' activities during hospitalisation, the likelihood of them developing postoperative complications and the improbability of their reporting incontinence. Rural nurses also reported more positive practices regarding pain management and restraint usage. However, metropolitan nurses reported more positive attitudes toward sleeping medications, decision making, discharge planning and the benefits of acute gerontological units, and were more knowledgeable about older patients' bowel changes in the acute care setting. PMID:11111426

potentially inappropriate medications were tertiary tricyclic antidepressants.Conclusion: Polypharmacy is common in older patients discharged from hospital. It is associated with frailty, falls, and poor functional outcomes. Efforts should be made to encourage regular medication reviews and rationalization of medications as part of discharge planning. Whether careful deprescribing improves outcomes in frail patients should be the focus of randomized trials. Keywords: polypharmacy, older people, post-acute care, functional outcomes

Patient safety depends on adequate staffing but the number of doctors required for safe staffing for medical emergencies is not known. We measured the duration of the admission process for patients seen by medical teams in emergency departments (EDs) and acutemedical units. History taking and examination by a core medical trainee took 22 minutes for a patient referred from the ED and 21 minutes for a patient referred from primary care. A complete admission clerking with prescription and ordering of investigations ranged from a mean of 15 minutes for a consultant in acute medicine to a mean of 55 minutes for a foundation year 1 trainee. The duration of post-take ward rounds also showed significant variability.Our data can be used to model staffing patterns if combined with information about admission numbers and local set up. PMID:27481373

Adequate health care is increasingly dependent on prehospital systems and cardiovascular (CV) disease remains the most common cause for hospital admission. However the prevalence of CV dispatches of emergency medical services (EMS) is not well reported and survival data described in clinical trials...... and registries are subject to selection biases. We aimed to describe the prevalence and prognosis of acute CV disease and the effect of invasive treatment, in an unselected and consecutive prehospital cohort of 3,410 patients calling the national emergency telephone number from 2005 to 2008 with...... follow-up in 2013. Individual-level data from national registries were linked to the dedicated EMS database of primary ambulance dispatches supported by physician-manned emergency units. Outcome data were obtained from the Central Population Registry, the National Patient Registry, and the National...

Caring for older adults is a major function of emergency medical services (EMS). Traditional EMS systems were designed to treat single acute conditions; this approach contrasts with best practices for the care of frail older adults. Care might be improved by the early identification of those who are frail and at highest risk for adverse outcomes. Paramedics are well positioned to play an important role via a more thorough evaluation of frailty (or vulnerability). These findings may inform both pre-hospital and subsequent emergency department (ED) based decisions. Innovative programs involving EMS, the ED, and primary care could reduce the workload on EDs while improving patient access to care, and ultimately patient outcomes. Some frail older adults will benefit from the resources and specialized knowledge provided by the ED, while others may be better helped in alternative ways, usually in coordination with primary care. Discerning between these groups is a challenge worthy of further inquiry. In either case, care should be timely, with a focus on identifying emergent or acute care needs, frailty evaluation, mobility assessments, identifying appropriate goals for treatment, promoting functional independence, and striving to have the patient return to their usual place of residence if this can be done safely. Paramedics are uniquely positioned to play a larger role in the care of our aging population. Improving paramedic education as it pertains to geriatrics is a critical next step. PMID:26282932

. SUBJECTS: Patients aged ≥70 years, electively or acutelyhospitalised for ≥2 days. METHODS: Screening instruments included in the Dutch Safety Management Programme [VeiligheidsManagementSysteem (VMS)] on four geriatric domains (ADL, falls, undernutrition and delirium) were used and the Identification of...... Seniors At Risk, the 6-item Cognitive Impairment Test and the Mini-Mental State Examination were assessed. Three months later, adverse outcomes including functional decline, high-healthcare demand or death were determined. Correlation and regression tree analyses were performed and predictive capacities...... strongest predictive model for frailty was scoring positive on ≥3 VMS domains if aged 70-80 years; or being aged ≥80 years and scoring positive on ≥1 VMS domains. This tool classified 34% of the patients as frail with a sensitivity of 68% and a specificity of 74%. Comparable results were found in the...

OBJECTIVES: TREAT, a decision support system for antimicrobial therapy, was implemented in an acutemedical ward. METHODS: Patients admitted on suspicion of infection were included in the study. The evaluation of TREAT was done both retrospectively and prospectively. Coverage of empirical antimic...

Background/Objectives. Rapid risk stratification of the patient with acute chest pain is essential to select the best management. We investigated the value of the ECG at first medical contact to determine size of the ischaemic myocardial area and thereby severity of risk.Methods. In 386 patients wit

population-based study of all adults admitted to an acutemedical admission unit, Odense University Hospital, Denmark, from September 2010 to August 2011, identified by symptoms and clinical findings. We categorized the mortality periods into intermediate-term (31-180 days) and long-term (181-365, 366...

The aim of this article is to describe formally a metaontology for medical diagnostics of acute diseases in the language of applied logic. The article includes an informal description of the metaontology, and the part of its model which contains the definitions for basic terms of knowledge and situations and also their integrity restrictions in the form of ontological agreements.

COPD-SEAT will be one of the first trials aimed at reducing sedentary behaviour at home in patients hospitalised for an acute exacerbation of COPD. This trial will provide valuable insight into the feasibility of implementing an at-home technology-based feedback intervention for reducing sedentary behaviour into patients existing care. Findings will inform a future large-scale trial acting as an adjuvant to pulmonary rehabilitation.

Full Text Available Objective: Acute encephalitis syndrome is a cause of significant morbidity and mortality in Nepal. Although Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV was thought to be a major cause for acute encephalitis syndrome, more non-Japanese encephalitis virus cases are reported. The outcome of patients with acute encephalitis syndrome is variable. Our study was designed to study the clinical profile and outcome of patients with acute encephalitis syndrome managed in tertiary care center in central Nepal. Methods: The record of patients admitted with diagnosis of acute encephalitis syndrome,from January 2010 to December 2010 in College of Medical Sciences-Teaching Hospital (CMS-TH was reviewed. They were classified clinically as meningitis, encephalitis and meningoencephalitis. The clinical details and reports of the patients were recorded and analyzed. Results: Total of 85 cases of meningitis and encephalitis were identified. Mean age was 19.18 years. Fifty-six (65.9% patients were males and 29 (34.1% were females. Sixty (70.58% patients had meningitis, 8 (9.41% had encephalitis, and 17 (20.0% had meningoencephalitis. JE serology was positive in 4 patients (4.7%. Seventy-two (84.7% patients made full recovery and were discharged from hospital. Thirteen (15.3% patients left against medical advice (LAMA. Conclusion: Acute encephalitis syndrome is still a major public health problem in Nepal. Few of these patients have Japanese Encephalitis. There is a trend towards improved outcome because of availability of improved health services. However, financial constraint remains a challenge in management of acute encephalitis syndrome. Journal of College of Medical Sciences-Nepal, 2013, Vol-9, No-2, 31-37 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jcmsn.v9i2.9685

We investigated trends over a decade in the prescription of lithium, antiepileptics, and antipsychotic agents at discharge for patients hospitalised for acute mania. We conducted a retrospective review of medical records for 165 inpatients with acute mania who had been hospitalised in Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry during 2001-2002 and 2011-2012. Among 165 patients, prescription of olanzapine at discharge increased from 3 to 46 % (p haloperidol decreased from 55 to 21 % (p acute mania decreased by half from 27 to 13 % (p = 0.02). Typical antipsychotics alone or in combination with antiepileptics were the most common treatment regimen at discharge at 2001-2002; while 10 years later, they had been largely replaced by lithium or antiepileptics combined with second generation antipsychotics. Antipsychotic agents remained to be an important component of acute treatment of mania in our practice. PMID:26220636

BACKGROUND: Very old people have higher suicide rates than the younger elderly population. Psychiatric disorders are known to have a strong association with suicide among elderly people. AIMS: To analyse the analyse the suicide risk associated with psychiatric hospitalisation among the very old...... (> or =80 years) compared with the middle-aged (50-64 years) and old (65-79 years) populations. METHOD: Individual-level data on the entire Danish population aged 50 years or over were analysed for the period 1994-1998. Relative suicide risks were calculated using event-history analysis. RESULTS: Among...... 1978 527 persons, 2323 died by suicide. Although the very old group exhibited a four-fold to five-fold increase in risk of suicide for those previously hospitalised, we noted an inverse interaction effect: the increase is distinctly smaller compared with that in the middle-aged and old groups...

Abstract Background A cross sectional survey was carried out on 120 hospitalised geriatric patients aged 60 and above in Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur to investigate their nutrient intakes and food preferences. Methods Food intakes were recorded using a one day weighed method and diet recall. Food preferences were determined using a five point hedonic score. Food wastages and factors affecting dietary adequacy were also investigated. Results The findings indicated that...

Full Text Available CONTEXT: Though the cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality in India, little is known about the human and economic loss attributed to the disease. The aim of this paper is to account the age and sex pattern of mortality, hospitalisation and the cost of hospitalisation for cardiovascular diseases in India. DATA AND METHODS: Data for the present study has been drawn from multiple sources; 52(nd and 60(th rounds of the National Sample Survey, Special Survey of Death, 2001-03 and the Sample Registration System 2004-2010. Under the changing demographics and constant assumptions of mortality, hospitalisation and cost of hospitalisation, we have estimated the deaths, hospitalisation and cost of hospitalisation for cardiovascular diseases in India during 2004 to 2021. Descriptive analyses and multivariate techniques were used to understand the socio-economic differentials in cost of hospitalisation for cardiovascular diseases in India. FINDINGS: In India, the cardiovascular diseases accounted for an estimated 1.4 million deaths in 2004 and it is likely to be 2.1 million in 2021. An estimated 6.7 million people were hospitalised for cardiovascular diseases in 2004, and projected to be 10.9 million by 2021. Unlike mortality, majority of the hospitalisation due to cardiovascular diseases will be in the prime working age group (25-59. The estimated cost of hospitalisation for cardiovascular diseases was 94/- billion rupees in 2004 and expected to be 152/- billion rupees by 2021, at 2004 prices. The cost of hospitalisation for cardiovascular diseases was significantly high in private health centres, high fertility states and among high socio-economic groups. CONCLUSION: The cardiovascular mortality and hospitalisation will be largely concentrated in the prime working age group and the cost of hospitalisation is expected to increase substantially in coming years. This calls for mobilising resources, increasing access to health insurance and

Full Text Available Introduction. Ophthalmic timolol, a topical nonselective beta-blocker, has the potential to be absorbed systemically which may cause adverse cardiovascular effects. This study was conducted to determine whether initiation of ophthalmic timolol was associated with an increased risk of hospitalisation for bradycardia. Materials and Methods. A self-controlled case-series study was undertaken in patients who were hospitalised for bradycardia and were exposed to timolol. Person-time after timolol initiation was partitioned into risk periods: 1–30 days, 31–180 days, and >180 days. A 30-day risk period prior to initiating timolol was also included. All remaining time was considered unexposed. Results. There were 6,373 patients with at least one hospitalisation for bradycardia during the study period; 267 were exposed to timolol. Risk of bradycardia was significantly increased in the 31–180 days after timolol initiation (incidence rate ratio (IRR = 1.93; 95% confidence interval (CI 1.00–1.87. No increased risk was observed in the first 30 days or beyond 180 days of continuous exposure (IRR = 1.40; 95% CI 0.87–2.26 and IRR = 1.21; 95% CI 0.64–2.31, resp.. Conclusion. Bradycardia is a potential adverse event following timolol initiation. Practitioners should consider patient history before choosing a glaucoma regime and closely monitor patients after treatment initiation with topical nonselective beta-blocker eye drops.

Acute coronary syndromes (ACS) constitute a spectrum of clinical presentations ranging from unstable angina and non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction to ST-segment myocardial infarction. Myocardial ischemia in this context occurs as a result of an abrupt decrease in coronary blood flow and resultant imbalance in the myocardial oxygen supply-demand relationship. Coronary blood flow is further compromised by other mechanisms that increase coronary vascular resistance or reduce coronary driving pressure. The goals of treatment are to decrease myocardial oxygen demand, increase coronary blood flow and oxygen supply, and limit myocardial injury. Treatments are generally divided into disease-modifying agents or interventions that improve hard clinical outcomes and other strategies that can reduce ischemia. In addition to traditional drugs such as β-blockers and inhibitors of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, newer agents have expanded the number of molecular pathways targeted for treatment of ACS. Ranolazine, trimetazidine, nicorandil, and ivabradine are medications that have been shown to reduce myocardial ischemia through diverse mechanisms and have been tested in limited fashion in patients with ACS. Attenuating the no-reflow phenomenon and reducing the injury compounded by acute reperfusion after a period of coronary occlusion are active areas of research. Additionally, interventions aimed at ischemic pre- and postconditioning may be useful means by which to limit myocardial infarct size. Trials are also underway to examine altered metabolic and oxygen-related pathways in ACS. This review will discuss traditional and newer anti-ischemic therapies for patients with ACS, exclusive of revascularization, antithrombotic agents, and the use of high-intensity statins. PMID:24902977

Full Text Available Marcello Di Nisio,1,2 Ettore Porreca3 1Department of Medical, Oral and Biotechnological Sciences, University G D'Annunzio of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy; 2Department of Vascular Medicine, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; 3Department of Medicine and Aging, Centre for Aging Sciences, Internal Medicine Unit, University G D'Annunzio Foundation, Chieti, Italy Abstract: Venous thromboembolism (VTE is a frequent complication among acutely ill medical patients hospitalized for congestive heart failure, acute respiratory insufficiency, rheumatologic disorders, and acute infectious and/or inflammatory diseases. Based on robust data from randomized controlled studies and meta-analyses showing a reduced incidence of VTE by 40% to about 60% with pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis, prevention of VTE with low molecular weight heparin (LMWH, unfractionated heparin (UFH, or fondaparinux is currently recommended in all at-risk hospitalized acutely ill medical patients. In patients who are bleeding or are at high risk for major bleeding, mechanical prophylaxis with graduated compression stockings or intermittent pneumatic compression may be suggested. Thromboprophylaxis is generally continued for 6 to 14 days or for the duration of hospitalization. Selected cases could benefit from extended thromboprophylaxis beyond this period, although the risk of major bleeding remains a concern, and additional studies are needed to identify patients who may benefit from prolonged prophylaxis. For hospitalized acutely ill medical patients with renal insufficiency, a low dose (1.5 mg once daily of fondaparinux or prophylactic LMWH subcutaneously appears to have a safe profile, although proper evaluation in randomized studies is lacking. The evidence on the use of prophylaxis for VTE in this latter group of patients, as well as in those at higher risk of bleeding complications, such as patients with thrombocytopenia, remains scarce. For critically ill patients

Full Text Available Abstract Background The inverse association between socioeconomic position (SEP and health has been extensively explored in Italy; however few studies have been carried out on the relationship between income inequalities and health status or health services utilisation, particularly at a local level. The objective of this study is to test the association between the demand for hospital care and a small area indicator based on income in four Italian cities, over a four-year period (1997-2000, in the adult population. Methods Census Block (median 260 residents Median per capita Income (CBMI was computed through record linkage between 1998 national tax and local population registries in the cities of Rome, Turin, Milan and Bologna (total population approximately 5.5 million. CBMI was linked to acute hospital discharges among residents, based on patient's residence. Age-standardized gender-specific hospitalisation rates were computed by CBMI quintiles (first quintile indicating lowest income, overall, and by city and year. Heterogeneity of the association between income level and hospitalisation was analysed through a Poisson model. Results We found an inverse association between small area income level and hospitalisation rates, which decreased continuously from 153 per 1000 inhabitants in the first quintile to 107 per 1000 inhabitants in the fifth quintile. Income differences in hospitalisation were confirmed in each city and year. However, the magnitude of the association and the absolute level of hospitalisation rates were quite different in each city and tended to slightly decrease over time in all cities considered, except Bologna. Conclusion Our study confirms an inverse association between income level and the use of hospitalization in four Italian cities, using a small area economic indicator, based on population tax data. Further analysis of the association between income and cause-specific hospitalization rates will allow to better

Full Text Available Introduction. Acute respiratory viral infections are the special group of diseases, which in the structure of infectious pathology firmly occupies one of leading places. The problem of morbidity belongs to the number of leading medical problems not only in Ukraine but also in the whole world. In addition, there is a greater risk of epidemic flashes of acute respiratory infections in the conditions of megapolis with the expressed processes of migration and accumulation of people. Purpose of test – to promote efficiency of patients treatment with acute respiratory viral infections by complex application of preparation «Extralact» on a background traditional (base therapy without the use of other antiviral preparations, thoroughly to probe influence on clinical motion of the indicated illnesses, endogenous intoxication and immune status of organism. Patients & methods. Under a supervision was 60 patients (22 men and 38 women of young and middle age (hesitated from 18 to 58, which treated oneself concerning ARVI. Determined the indexes of Extralact efficiency: general duration of disease; frequency of development of complications; dynamics of clinical displays; dynamics of laboratory indexes, indexes of endogenous intoxication, and immunological indexes. Patients were randomised on 2 groups: a I group (30 persons – 50,0 % got treatment of base therapy preparations; the II group (30 patients – 50,0 % on a background base therapy got preparation «Extralact» for 2 capsules 3 times per days during 5 days. Results & discussion. Based on the examination of 60 patients with ARVI established following. Addition of base therapy of such patients of extralact in a dose 2 caps. 3 times daily during 5 days was accompanied by a significant advantage compared with only basic therapy on several grounds: the greater the number of patients advancing recovery up to 7 days, most regressed cough, relatively less there were complications. After 5 days of

Full Text Available Introduction: The emergency medical services (EMS system plays a crucial role in the chain of survival for acute myocardial infarction (AMI and stroke. While regional studies have shown underutilization of the 911 system for these time-sensitive conditions, national trends have not been studied. Our objective was to describe the national prevalence of EMS use for AMI and stroke, examine trends over a six-year period, and identify patient factors that may contribute to utilization. Methods: Using the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey-ED (NHAMCS dataset from 2003-2009, we looked at patients with a discharge diagnosis of AMI or stroke who arrived to the emergency department (ED by ambulance. We used a survey-weighted χ2 test for trend and logistic regression analysis. Results: In the study, there were 442 actual AMI patients and 220 (49.8% presented via EMS. There were 1,324 actual stroke patients and 666 (50.3% presented via EMS. There was no significant change in EMS usage for AMI or stroke over the six-year period. Factors independently associated with EMS use for AMI and stroke included age (OR 1.21; 95% CI 1.12-1.31, Non-Hispanic black race (OR 1.72; 95% CI 1.16-2.29, and nursing home residence (OR 11.50; 95% CI 6.19-21.36. Conclusion: In a nationally representative sample of ED visits from 20003-2009, there were no trends of increasing EMS use for AMI and stroke. Efforts to improve access to care could focus on patient groups that underutilize the EMS system for such conditions. [West J Emerg Med. 2014;15(7:–0.

Objectives: To assess the safety culture in an acutemedical admissions unit (AMAU) of a teaching hospital in order to benchmark results against international data and guide a unit-based, integrated, risk management strategy. Methods: The Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ), a validated instrument for the measurement of safety culture, was applied to an AMAU. All AMAU healthcare staff (n = 92) were surveyed: doctors, nurses, healthcare assistants (HCAs) and allied healthcare professiona...

As part of its Medical Technology Evaluation Programme, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) invited a manufacturer to provide clinical and economic evidence for the evaluation of the Debrisoft ® monofilament debridement pad for use in acute or chronic wounds. The University of Birmingham and Brunel University, acting as a consortium, was commissioned to act as an External Assessment Centre (EAC) for NICE, independently appraising the submission. This article is an ove...

The recently developed radioligand [{sup 123}I]FP-CIT is suitable for clinical single-photon emission tomography (SPET) imaging of the dopamine (DA) transporter in vivo. To date it has remained unclear whether dopaminergic medication influences the striatal [{sup 123}I]FP-CIT binding. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of this medication on [{sup 123}I]FP-CIT binding in the brain. We used an animal model in which we administered dopaminomimetics, antipsychotics and an antidepressant. In vivo [{sup 123}I]FP-CIT binding to the DA and serotonin transporters was evaluated after sub-chronic and acute administration of the drugs. The administered medication induced small changes in striatal [{sup 123}I]FP-CIT binding which were not statistically significant. As expected, the DA reuptake blocker GBR 12,909 induced a significant decrease in [{sup 123}I]FP-CIT binding. [{sup 123}I]FP-CIT binding in the serotonin-rich hypothalamus was decreased only after acute administration of fluvoxamine. The results of this study suggest that dopaminergic medication will not affect the results of DA transporter SPET imaging with [{sup 123}I]FP-CIT. (orig.)

Abstract Purpose Although, drug?drug interactions (DDIs) between potassium-increasing drugs (PIDs) are known risk factors for developing hyperkalaemia, not much is known about their risk and management strategies during hospitalisation. This study examines the frequency of serum potassium measurements and hyperkalaemia in hospitalised patients, based on the use of one or more PIDs, and the determinants thereof. Methods...

adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are a major cause of morbidity and healthcare utilisation in older people. The GerontoNet ADR risk score aims to identify older people at risk of ADRs during hospitalisation. We aimed to assess the clinical applicability of this score and identify other variables that predict ADRs in hospitalised older people.

The university department of child and adolescent psychiatry of Brest Hospital (a medium size town of 200,000 inhabitants) has at disposal a 14 in-patient emergency care unit, where young people under 16, mostly in crisis (individual and/or family and/or institutional crisis) are admitted. This unit opens 24h a day throughout the year, and patients with any type of pathology are admitted for a short stay, mainly with no demand for care. After a description of this unit with its modalities of functioning, the authors will report on its activity assessed from sets of data pertinent to the last 8 years. One thousand two hundred and twenty-five admittances were recorded over these 8 years. A very strong increase in the number of hospitalisation over the years (+201.4%) was also noticed. However, the sex-ratio remained quite alike with a majority of boys (55.3%), as well as the average stay duration (15.5 days in 2007). About the age at admittance, one should note that, after the relative stability observed in the first years, the average age has been decreasing regularly for the last 3 years to pass from 13.2 years for girls and 12.7years for boys in 2005 to 12.6 years (girls) and 11.2 years (boys) in 2007. Despite a rise in the number of children under placement in this region (Finistère) between 2001 and 2006, the origin of the admittances has remained quite stable over 8 years: in 2007, 64.9% of the accepted children were living in their family, 24.6% in a foster care and 10.4% in a foster family. The evaluation of this hospitable cohort over several years allowed the authors to highlight various trends such as the explosion of the demand for medical care in both sexes, the rejuvenation of mental disorders, evolution in the motives for admittance with an important increase of psychomotor instability and externalised behavioural problems as well as the occurrence of new demands for care, e.g. the weaning of "on-line" video games or Internet. The growing expansion of

Full Text Available Background/Objective: acute abdominal pain is one important dilemma in pediatric patients. The purpose of this paper is to present our experience about diagnostic value of sonography in children with acute abdominal pain."nPatients and Methods: During a period of 5 years (march 2002 to march 2007; we studied clinical, sonographical and surgical data of more than 5000 children with acute abdominal pain in only children medical center in khorasan at Dr. Sheikh Children hospital."nResults: Approximately in more than 90% children with acute abdominal pain, mesenteric lymphadenitis [enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes (≥4mm and/or mural thickening of the terminal ileum (≥8mm] and gastroenteritis (enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes with generalize thickened bowel wall were sonographic diagnosis. In all this patients, sonographic diagnosis was documented with clinical course and outcome, except in three that pelvic appendicitis was final surgical diagnosis. "nAppendicitis, intussusception and bowel obstruction [mainly due to inflammatory or tumoral mass] were uncommon causes. The rare sonographic diagnoses were peritonitis in 8, malrotation (abnormal mesenteric vessels position in 3, pancratitis in 3, diaphragmatic hernia with gastric volvulus (abnormal mesenteric vessels position in 2, ovarian torsion in 2, pylonephritis in 1, mechel diveticulitis in 1. Final clinical and surgical diagnosis in three patients with peritonitis diagnosis was gastroenteritis. In children with acute abdominal pain, there was normal sonography report only in few cases. "nConclusion: common and uncommon causes of acute abdominal pain in children are limited and in almost all of these patients, sonographic diagnosis is completely reliable.

Background: Okhaldhunga community hospital lies in rural Nepal, and is a hospital with simple equipment and facilities. The supply of power is little, therefore it does not excist any electronical medical record system. Each patient has its own notebook, which serves as their medical record, and each patient is responsible for this medical record. That means that they bring their medical record back home when they are discharged from the hospital, and the hospital has no archive. Two other no...

A case is reported in which a 32-year-old man who had a cardiac arrest secondary to acute severe asthma was successfully resuscitated following an emergency thoracotomy when conventional external measures failed.

Purpose: To investigate the incidence and influencing factors of acute genitourinary (GU) and gastrointestinal morbidities in patients with prostate cancer treated with proton therapy. Methods and Materials: A total of 287 patients with histologically proven Stage cT1-T4N0M0 prostate cancer were treated with proton therapy between 2003 and 2004. Of these, 204 (71%) received neoadjuvant androgen suppression therapy. The patients were treated with 190-230-MeV protons using lateral-opposed techniques to a dose of 74 GyE. Dose-volume histogram analyses were performed. The incidence of acute morbidity was evaluated using the National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria, version 2.0. Clinical factors, including age, clinical target volume, initial prostate-specific antigen level, T stage, presence of diabetes mellitus, and the use of androgen suppression therapy, were investigated to determine whether those affected the incidence of acute GU morbidity. Results: None developed Grade 2 or higher acute gastrointestinal morbidity. In contrast, 111 (39%) and 4 (1%) patients experienced acute Grade 2 and Grade 3 GU morbidities, respectively. However, 87% of the patients were successfully relieved by the administration of a selective α-1 blocker. Multivariate analysis showed that a larger clinical target volume (p = 0.001) and the use of androgen suppression therapy (p = 0.017) were significant factors for the prediction of acute Grade 2-3 GU morbidity. Conclusion: In our experience with proton therapy, a low incidence of acute gastrointestinal morbidity was observed. In contrast, the incidence of acute GU morbidity was similar to that in other reports of photon radiotherapy. Additional follow-up is warranted to elucidate the long-term safety and efficacy of proton therapy for prostate cancer

Background Risk medications are frequently associated with adverse events and hospitalisations. Objective To evaluate a risk medication screening service for in-patients at Danish hospitals. Setting Danish hospitals. Methods The study was designed as a controlled, prospective intervention study. ...

Despite the widespread use of herbal and dietary supplements (HDS), serious cases of hepatotoxicity have been reported. The popular herbal weight loss supplement, Hydroxycut, has previously been implicated in acute liver injury. Since its introduction, Hydroxycut has undergone successive transformations in its formulation; yet, cases of liver injury have remained an ongoing problem. We report a case of a 41-year-old Hispanic man who developed acute hepatocellular liver injury with associated nausea, vomiting, jaundice, fatigue and asterixis attributed to the use of a newer formulation of Hydroxycut, SX-7 Clean Sensory. The patient required hospitalisation and improved with supportive therapy. Despite successive transformations in its formulation, potential liver injury appears to remain an ongoing problem with Hydroxycut. Our case illustrates the importance of obtaining a thorough medication history, including HDS, regardless of new or reformulated product marketing efforts. PMID:25948859

Information was gathered on recognition and treatment of alcohol problems in the primary and secondary health sectors, the latter represented by a department of hepatology. The general practitioner finds in most cases (18/26, 69%) that it is relevant to advise about a patient's alcohol misuse...... on admission forms when the patient previously has been discharged from another department with this diagnosis. However, if the patient has not previously been hospitalised due to alcohol misuse, information on the diagnosis is only rarely (30/114, 26%) available. This difference is highly significant (P = 0.......0001). The case-recording hospital physician at admission recognises 73% of alcohol misusers who are admitted with a non-alcohol-related diagnosis. When the patient had been evaluated by both the admitting physician and the case-recording hospital physician, information on the alcohol problem occurred...

Objective Current practice guidelines recommend the routine use of several cardiac medications early in the course of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Our objective was to analyze temporal trends in medication use and in-hospital mortality of AMI patients in a Chinese population. Methods This is a retrospective observational study using electronic medical records from the hospital information system (HIS) of 14 Chinese hospitals. We identified 5599 patients with AMI between 2005 and 2011. F...

Full Text Available Abstract Background The importance of diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli (DEC infections in the Arabian Gulf including Kuwait is not known. The prevalence of DEC (enterotoxigenic [ETEC], enteropathogenic [EPEC], enteroinvasive [EIEC], enterohemorrhagic [EHEC] and enteroaggregative [EAEC] was studied in 537 children ≤ 5 years old hospitalised with acute diarrhoea and 113 matched controls from two hospitals during 2005–07 by PCR assays using E. coli colony pools. Results The prevalence of DEC varied from 0.75% for EHEC to 8.4% for EPEC (mostly atypical variety in diarrhoeal children with no significant differences compared to that in control children (P values 0.15 to 1.00. Twenty-seven EPEC isolates studied mostly belonged to non-traditional serotypes and possessed β and θ intimin subtypes. A total of 54 DEC isolates from diarrhoeal children and 4 from controls studied for antimicrobial susceptibility showed resistance for older antimicrobials, ampicillin (0 to 100%, tetracycline (33 to 100% and trimethoprim (22.2 to 100%; 43.1% of the isolates were multidrug-resistant (resistant to 3 or more agents. Six (10.4% DEC isolates produced extended spectrum β-lactamases and possessed genetic elements (blaCTX-M, blaTEM and ISEcp1 associated with them. Conclusion We speculate that the lack of significant association of DEC with diarrhoea in children in Kuwait compared to countries surrounding the Arabian Gulf Region may be attributable to high environmental and food hygiene due to high disposable income in Kuwait.

Full Text Available Objectives. To examine the epidemiology of infectious disease (ID hospitalisations among Alaska Native (AN people. Methods. Hospitalisations with a first-listed ID diagnosis for American Indians and ANs residing in Alaska during 2001–2009 were selected from the Indian Health Service direct and contract health service inpatient data. ID hospitalisations to describe the general US population were selected from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample. Annual and average annual (2007–2009 hospitalization rates were calculated. Results. During 2007–2009, IDs accounted for 20% of hospitalisations among AN people. The 2007–2009 average annual age-adjusted ID hospitalisation rate (2126/100,000 persons was higher than that for the general US population (1679/100,000; 95% CI 1639–1720. The ID hospitalisation rate for AN people increased from 2001 to 2009 (17%, p<0.001. Although the rate during 2001–2009 declined for AN infants (<1 year of age; p=0.03, they had the highest 2007–2009 average annual rate (15106/100,000, which was 3 times the rate for general US infants (5215/100,000; 95% CI 4783–5647. The annual rates for the age groups 1–4, 5–19, 40–49, 50–59 and 70–79 years increased (p<0.05. The highest 2007–2009 age-adjusted average annual ID hospitalisation rates were in the Yukon-Kuskokwim (YK (3492/100,000 and Kotzebue (3433/100,000 regions; infant rates were 30422/100,000 and 26698/100,000 in these regions, respectively. During 2007–2009, lower respiratory tract infections accounted for 39% of all ID hospitalisations and approximately 50% of ID hospitalisations in YK, Kotzebue and Norton Sound, and 74% of infant ID hospitalisations. Conclusions. The ID hospitalisation rate increased for AN people overall. The rate for AN people remained higher than that for the general US population, particularly in infants and in the YK and Kotzebue regions. Prevention measures to reduce ID morbidity among AN people should be increased in high

Introduction Patients with cardiovascular disease are living longer and are more frequently accessing healthcare resources. The Evaluation of the Methods and Management of Acute Coronary Events (EMMACE)-3 national study is designed to improve understanding of the effect of quality of care on health-related outcomes for patients hospitalised with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Methods and analysis EMMACE-3 is a longitudinal study of 5556 patients hospitalised with an ACS in England. The study ...

Introduction In overcrowded emergency department (ED) care, short time to start effective antibiotic treatment has been evidenced to improve infection-related clinical outcomes. Our objective was to study factors associated with delays in initial ED care within an international prospective medical ED patient population presenting with acute infections. Methods We report data from an international prospective observational cohort study including patients with a main diagnosis of infection from three tertiary care hospitals in Switzerland, France and the United States (US). We studied predictors for delays in starting antibiotic treatment by using multivariate regression analyses. Results Overall, 544 medical ED patients with a main diagnosis of acute infection and antibiotic treatment were included, mainly pneumonia (n = 218; 40.1%), urinary tract (n = 141; 25.9%), and gastrointestinal infections (n = 58; 10.7%). The overall median time to start antibiotic therapy was 214 minutes (95% CI: 199, 228), with a median length of ED stay (ED LOS) of 322 minutes (95% CI: 308, 335). We found large variations of time to start antibiotic treatment depending on hospital centre and type of infection. The diagnosis of a gastrointestinal infection was the most significant predictor for delay in antibiotic treatment (+119 minutes compared to patients with pneumonia; 95% CI: 58, 181; p<0.001). Conclusions We found high variations in hospital ED performance in regard to start antibiotic treatment. The implementation of measures to reduce treatment times has the potential to improve patient care. PMID:27171476

While the use of radioactive materials around the world offers a wide range of benefits in medicine, industry and research, safety precautions are essential to limit the exposure of persons to harmful radiation. When the quantity of radioactive material employed is substantial, as when radioactive sources are used for radiotherapy in medicine or for industrial radiography, extreme care is necessary to prevent accidents that may lead to severe health consequences for the individuals involved. Despite the fact that the precautions to be taken are clearly established, accidents with radiation sources continue to occur, albeit infrequently. The IAEA, as part of its 'Safety of Radiation Sources' and 'Emergency Response' subprogrammes, follows up severe accidents of this kind. In so doing, the IAEA attempts to document both the circumstances leading to the accident and the subsequent medical treatment in order to define the lessons to be learned from these events. The overall objective is to provide information that will be of benefit to organizations with responsibilities for radiation protection, the safety of radiation sources and the medical management of radiation accidents. The International Atomic Energy Agency has issued a number of publications on radiation accidents which have occurred in the past 15 years, reporting on the causes, radiation safety aspects and medical management of those affected particularly in the acute phase following an accident. These reports cover the accidents in Chernobyl, Ukraine (the Republic of the former Soviet Union) and Goiania (Brazil), and those in El Salvador, Vietnam, Belarus, Israel, Estonia, Costa Rica, Georgia, Russian Federation, Turkey, Peru and Panama. In 1998 the IAEA published three Safety Reports, co-sponsored by the World Health Organization, aimed at disseminating medical information on the recognition and treatment of radiation injuries, planning the medical response to radiation accidents and occupational health

Full Text Available Kristi H Grall,1 Ashish R Panchal,2 Eliud Chuffe,3 Lisa R Stoneking4 1Department of Emergency Medicine, Regions Hospital, Health Partners Institute, St Paul, MN, 2Department of Emergency Medicine, Wexner Medical Center, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 3Department of Spanish and Portuguese, 4Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA Introduction: Language and cultural barriers are detriments to quality health care. In acutemedical settings, these barriers are more pronounced, which can lead to poor patient outcomes.Materials and methods: We implemented a longitudinal Spanish-language immersion curriculum for emergency medicine (EM resident physicians. This curriculum includes language and cultural instruction, and is integrated into the weekly EM didactic conference, longitudinal over the entire 3-year residency program. Language proficiency was assessed at baseline and annually on the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR scale, via an oral exam conducted by the same trained examiner each time. The objective of the curriculum was improvement of resident language skills to ILR level 1+ by year 3. Significance was evaluated through repeated-measures analysis of variance.Results: The curriculum was launched in July 2010 and followed through June 2012 (n=16. After 1 year, 38% had improved over one ILR level, with 50% achieving ILR 1+ or above. After year 2, 100% had improved over one level, with 90% achieving the objective level of ILR 1+. Mean ILR improved significantly from baseline, year 1, and year 2 (F=55, df =1; P<0.001.Conclusion: Implementation of a longitudinal, integrated Spanish-immersion curriculum is feasible and improves language skills in EM residents. The curriculum improved EM-resident language proficiency above the goal in just 2 years. Further studies will focus on the effect of language acquisition on patient care in acute settings.Keywords: language, Spanish, immersion curriculum, emergency

in early childhood and cognitive function and educational level in early adulthood. METHODS: We conducted a population-based prevalence study using linked data from healthcare databases and conscription records of Danish men born between 1977 and 1983. We identified all hospitalisations with OM before 8...... years of age. Cognitive function was measured by the Boerge Prien validated group intelligence test (Danish Børge Prien Prøve, BPP). We adjusted for potential confounders with and without stratification by hearing impairment. Furthermore, we examined the association between hospitalisation with OM......% CI: 0.78-1.34)]. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, we found that hospitalisation with OM in early childhood was associated with a slightly lower cognitive function in early adulthood. Hospitalisation for OM did not seem to influence the prevalence of GSCE when level of BPP was taken into account....

The use of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), a costly high-tech treatment for patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), is much more frequent in Japan than in other developed countries, resulting in large medical expenditure. Using chart-based data from the Tokai Acute Myocardial Infarction Study (TAMIS) and exploiting regional variations, we explore what factors explain the intensive use of PTCA in Japan, employing propensity score matching to estimate the average...

Objective To identify the effectiveness of information resources to help parents decide when to seek medical care for an acutely sick child under 5 years of age, including the identification of factors influencing effectiveness, by systematically reviewing the literature. Methods 5 databases and 5 websites were systematically searched using a combination of terms on children, parents, education, acute childhood illness. A narrative approach, assessing quality via the Mixed Methods Appraisal T...

OBJECTIVE: To identify the effectiveness of information resources to help parents decide when to seek medical care for an acutely sick child under 5 years of age, including the identification of factors influencing effectiveness, by systematically reviewing the literature. METHODS: 5 databases and 5 websites were systematically searched using a combination of terms on children, parents, education, acute childhood illness. A narrative approach, assessing quality via the Mixed Methods Appraisal...

Background: It is known that people who suffer from depression are more likely to have other physical illnesses, but the extent of the association between depression and non-psychiatric hospitalisation episodes has never been researched in great depth. We therefore aimed to investigate whether depressed middle-aged and older people were more likely to be hospitalised for causes other than mental illnesses, and whether the outcomes for this group of people were less favourable. Methods & F...

Background Patients with stable COPD show improvements in exercise capacity and muscular function after the application of whole body vibration. We aimed to evaluate whether this modality added to conventional physiotherapy in exacerbated hospitalised COPD patients would be safe and would improve exercise capacity and quality of life. Methods 49 hospitalised exacerbated COPD patients were randomized (1:1) to undergo physiotherapy alone or physiotherapy with the addition of whole body vibratio...

Malnutrition is quite common in hospitalised patients, with most studies indicating a prevalence of 20–62%. It is associated with length of stay and morbidity in developed countries. This study was performed to identify nutritional status of hospitalised patients in urban corporate setting by using primarily, the Mini Nutritional Assessment tool. This is a prospective study conducted in an urban tertiary care centre. 304 consecutive patients admitted to the hospital were studied, between the ...

Objectives The purpose of this study was to calculate exposure-based bicycling hospitalisation rates in Canadian jurisdictions with different helmet legislation and bicycling mode shares, and to examine whether the rates were related to these differences. Methods Administrative data on hospital stays for bicycling injuries to 10 body region groups and national survey data on bicycling trips were used to calculate hospitalisation rates. Rates were calculated for 44 sex, age and jurisdiction st...

Objective:To evaluate the practices of university students towards self-medication to treat minor ailments inMuscat andSohar region ofSultanate ofOman.Methods:A cross sectional study was conducted inOctober2013-January2014.A total of450 university students were randomly selected and their verbal consent was obtained.The data were collected through the self-administered, close ended, pretested questionnaire and was analyzed statistically bySPSS version19.0.Results:Overall204 males(45.3%) and246 females(56.7%) participated in the study.The mean age of respondents was22.3 years.Ninety-four percent of respondents reported practicing self-medication and165(36.7%) participants admitted of having purchased drugs without prescription more than four times over the last six months.Headache, fever, cough and cold were the most common ailments which prompted respondents to seek self-medication. Analgesics, cough preparations and antibiotics were the most common classes of drugs used in self-medication.The majority of respondents practiced self-medication either because their illness was not serious or they had prior experience with the drug.The majority of respondents had good medicationknowledge which they reported to acquire from reading drug leaflet or from pharmacists’ advice.Conclusion:The prevalence of self-medication among university students was very high.There is a need for intensive education and comprehensive awareness campaign to advocate for reduction in the prevalence of self-medication practices among students.

Diagnosing acute pancreatitis in dogs and cats is difficult. Abdominal ultrasonography provides specific information about the size, shape and homogeneity of the pancreas, but is very dependent on the experience of the operator and the quality of the echography machine. Abdominal radiography is less useful, while computed tomography is less practicable in veterinary patients because of the anesthesia risks, the need for experienced operators, and the high cost. Furthermore, computed tomograph...

Although acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in pregnancy is rare, can result in maternal and/or fetal death and should be carefully managed. The aim of this study is to collect and review the data on the management from numerous articles published since 2000. For literature review we performed a literature search on PubMed that were based on diagnoses and management of myocardial infarction on pregnancy. Atherosclerosis appears to be the most common cause of AMI. Although there are some differ...

@@ The definition of acute renal failure (ARF) has not gotten common understanding yet in a long time, which leads to the difficulty in comparing the outcomes of some different studies, and has impacted the advance of diagnosis and treatment on the illness to certain extents. Most of the scholars hold that the attention paid to the early diagnosis and intervention of ARF was insufficient in recent years.

Full Text Available Barbara Okoniewska,1 Maria Jose Santana,1 Horacio Groshaus,2 Svetlana Stajkovic,3 Jennifer Cowles,4 David Chakrovorty,5 William A Ghali1 1Department of Community Health Sciences, W21C Research and Innovation Centre, Institute of Public Health, 2Department of Internal Medicine, University of Calgary, 3Community Based Practice, 4Foothills Medical Centre, 5Department of Quality and Healthcare Improvement, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, AB, Canada Background: The complex process of discharging patients from acute care to community care requires a multifaceted interaction between all health care providers and patients. Poor communication in a patient’s discharge can result in post hospital adverse events, readmission, and mortality. Because of the gravity of these problems, discharge planning has been emphasized as a potential solution. The purpose of this paper is to identify communication barriers to effective discharge planning in an acute care unit of a tertiary care center and to suggest solutions to these barriers. Methods: Health care providers provided comments to a single open-ended question: “What are the communication barriers between the different health care providers that limit an effective discharge of patients from Unit 36?” We conducted qualitative thematic analysis by identifying themes related to communication barriers affecting a successful discharge process. Results: Three broad themes related to barriers to the discharge process were identified: communication, lack of role clarity and lack of resources. We also identified two themes for opportunities for improvement, ie, structure and function of the medical team and need for leadership. Conclusion: While it was evident that poor communication was an overarching barrier identified by health care providers, other themes emerged. In an effort to increase inter-team communication, “bullet rounds”, a condensed form of discharge rounds, were introduced to the medical

Full Text Available Abstract Background A cross sectional survey was carried out on 120 hospitalised geriatric patients aged 60 and above in Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur to investigate their nutrient intakes and food preferences. Methods Food intakes were recorded using a one day weighed method and diet recall. Food preferences were determined using a five point hedonic score. Food wastages and factors affecting dietary adequacy were also investigated. Results The findings indicated that the mean intakes of energy and all nutrients investigated except for vitamin C and fluid were below the individual requirement for energy, protein and fluid, and the Malaysian Recommendation of Dietary Allowances (RDA for calcium, iron, vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin and acid ascorbic. In general, subjects preferred vegetables, fruits and beans to red meat, milk and dairy products. There was a trend of women to have a higher percentage for food wastage. Females, diabetic patients, subjects who did not take snacks and subjects who were taking hospital food only, were more likely to consume an inadequate diet (p Conclusions Food service system in hospital should consider the food preferences among geriatric patients in order to improve the nutrient intake. In addition, the preparation of food most likely to be rejected such as meat, milk and dairy products need some improvements to increase the acceptance of these foods among geriatric patients. This is important because these foods are good sources of energy, protein and micronutrients that can promote recovery from disease or illness.

The aim of this study was to calculate the number and costs of hospital bed-days due to alcohol use in Ireland over the five year period 2000 to 2004. Age and sex specific Irish alcohol-attributable-fractions (AAFs) were developed by combining international risk estimates with Irish consumption data where available; where not available international AAFs were used. These were applied to national datasets to count the number and costs of bed-days wholly caused and prevented by alcohol and that proportion of bed-days that were partially caused and prevented by alcohol. Between 2000 and 2004, alcohol was estimated to have caused 3,428,973 (10.3%) and prevented 529,239 (1.6%) of hospital bed-days, giving a net number of bed-days due to alcohol of 2,899,734 (8.7%). Over this period the hospital inpatient costs attributed to the negative effects of alcohol were 953,126,381 euros, the costs attributed to hospitalisations prevented were 147,968,164 euros; giving net costs of alcohol-attributed bed-days of 805,158,217 euros. Chronic conditions accounted for 3,262,408 (95%) hospital bed-days due to the harmful effects of alcohol. Conditions not wholly due to alcohol accounted for 2,297,412 (67%) hospital bed-days due to the harmful effects of alcohol. The negative impacts of alcohol were greater than previously thought and spread across the whole population.

Full Text Available Abstract Background Nursing home residents are at high risk for developing acute illnesses. Compared with community dwelling adults, nursing home residents are often more frail, prone to multiple medical problems and symptoms, and are at higher risk for adverse outcomes from acute illnesses. In addition, because of polypharmacy and the high burden of chronic disease, nursing home residents are particularly vulnerable to disruptions in transitions of care such as medication interruptions in the setting of acute illness. In order to better estimate the effect of acute illness on nursing home residents, we have initiated a prospective cohort which will allow us to observe patterns of acute illnesses and the consequence of acute illnesses, including symptoms and function, among nursing home residents. We also aim to examine the patterns of medication interruption, and identify patient, provider and environmental factors that influence continuity of medication prescribing at different points of care transition. Methods This is a prospective cohort of nursing home residents residing in two nursing homes in a metropolitan area. Baseline characteristics including age, gender, race, and comorbid conditions are recorded. Participants are followed longitudinally for a planned period of 3 years. We record acute illness incidence and characteristics, and measure symptoms including depression, pain, withdrawal symptoms, and function using standardized scales. Results 76 nursing home residents have been followed for a median of 666 days to date. At baseline, mean age of residents was 74.4 (± 11.9; 32% were female; 59% were white. The most common chronic conditions were dementia (41%, depression (38%, congestive heart failure (25% and chronic obstructive lung disease (27%. Mean pain score was 4.7 (± 3.6 on a scale of 0 to 10; Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15 score was 5.2 (± 4.4. During follow up, 138 acute illness episodes were identified, for an

The current knowledge of the carcinogenic effect of radiation in man is considered. The discussion is restricted to dose-incidence data in humans, particularly to certain of those epidemiological studies of human populations that are used most frequently for risk estimation for low-dose radiation carcinogenesis in man. Emphasis is placed solely on those surveys concerned with nuclear explosions and medical exposures

Full Text Available Abstract Background Patient safety is a fundamental component of good quality health care. Checklists have been proposed as a method of improving patient safety. This systematic review, asked "In acute hospital settings, would the use of safety checklists applied by medical care teams, compared to not using checklists, improve patient safety?" Methods We searched the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, CINAHL, and EMBASE for randomised controlled trials published in English before September 2009. Studies were selected and appraised by two reviewers independently in consultation with colleagues, using inclusion, exclusion and appraisal criteria established a priori. Results Nine cohort studies with historical controls studies from four hospital care settings were included-intensive care unit, emergency department, surgery, and acute care. The studies used a variety of designs of safety checklists, and implemented them in different ways, however most incorporated an educational component to teach the staff how to use the checklist. The studies assessed outcomes occurring a few weeks to a maximum of 12 months post-implementation, and these outcomes were diverse. The studies were generally of low to moderate quality and of low levels of evidence, with all but one of the studies containing a high risk of bias. The results of these studies suggest some improvements in patient safety arising from use of safety checklists, but these were not consistent across all studies or for all outcomes. Some studies showed no difference in outcomes between checklist use and standard care without a checklist. Due to the variations in setting, checklist design, educational training given, and outcomes measured, it was unfeasible to accurately summarise any trends across all studies. Conclusions The included studies suggest some benefits of using safety checklists to improve protocol adherence and patient safety, but due to the risk of bias in these studies, their results

Introduction Language and cultural barriers are detriments to quality health care. In acutemedical settings, these barriers are more pronounced, which can lead to poor patient outcomes. Materials and methods We implemented a longitudinal Spanish-language immersion curriculum for emergency medicine (EM) resident physicians. This curriculum includes language and cultural instruction, and is integrated into the weekly EM didactic conference, longitudinal over the entire 3-year residency program. Language proficiency was assessed at baseline and annually on the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) scale, via an oral exam conducted by the same trained examiner each time. The objective of the curriculum was improvement of resident language skills to ILR level 1+ by year 3. Significance was evaluated through repeated-measures analysis of variance. Results The curriculum was launched in July 2010 and followed through June 2012 (n=16). After 1 year, 38% had improved over one ILR level, with 50% achieving ILR 1+ or above. After year 2, 100% had improved over one level, with 90% achieving the objective level of ILR 1+. Mean ILR improved significantly from baseline, year 1, and year 2 (F=55, df =1; Pimmersion curriculum is feasible and improves language skills in EM residents. The curriculum improved EM-resident language proficiency above the goal in just 2 years. Further studies will focus on the effect of language acquisition on patient care in acute settings. PMID:26929679

During a national outbreak of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) in Israel, we conducted a point prevalence survey to determine the extent of asymptomatic carriage. Subsequently, a retrospective case-control study was done, comparing carriers of CRKP with non-carriers, in order to detect risk factors for carriage. Oral, perianal and rectal swabs were obtained from all hospitalised eligible and consenting patients. Selective media for carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria were used and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) helped to determine clonal source. Culture was obtained from 298 patients. Sixteen (5.4%) were carriers of CRKP, with a higher carriage rate in medical and surgical wards. Only 18% of carriers were treated with any carbapenem prior to the survey. Five of the 16 carriers had a positive clinical specimen for CRKP, hence a clinical infection versus asymptomatic carriage ratio of 1:3. The rectum was the most sensitive site sampled, detecting 15/16 carriers, and the overall sensitivity of the method was 94% with a negative predictive value of 99.6%. In a multivariate analysis of risk factors for CRKP carriage, three variables were significantly related to carriage state: diaper use, longer duration of hospital stay and vancomycin use. PFGE demonstrated that all 16 isolates were identical, confirming clonal origin. A point prevalence survey performed at a single medical centre during an outbreak of CRKP demonstrated a carriage rate of 5.4%. The clonal origin of these isolates suggests that strict adherence to isolation procedure may contain this outbreak. PMID:19783067

intervention, ISAR II, developed by McCusker et al.. ISAR II comprises a checklist of physical, mental, medical and social problems. Focus was on unresolved problems that required medical intervention, new/different community assistant services, or comprehensive geriatric assessment. After assessment the nurse...... by the community nurse or by home help was found. A subgroup analyses of participants with an ISAR I score of 2 showed that the intervention group had little though significant fewer readmissions in mean (0.5 vs. 1.0) at 180 days follow-up (p=0.03). During 180 days follow-up refusers were more likely...... problems diminished with no increase in daily life support from the community services; and by structuring the nurses’ documentation, the exchange of information from hospital to community services focuses on the older peoples’ undetected problems, and may thus result in a safer return home. A decrease in...

Maureen Runganga,1,2 Nancye M Peel,2 Ruth E Hubbard2,3 1The Prince Charles Hospital, Chermside, QLD, Australia; 2Centre for Research in Geriatric Medicine, The University of Queensland School of Medicine, QLD, Australia; 3Princess Alexandra Hospital, Woolloongabba, QLD, Australia Background: Older adults with a range of comorbidities are often prescribed multiple medications, which may impact on their function and cognition and increase the potential for drug interactions and adverse events...

The present review provides an understanding of our current knowledge of the carcinogenic effect of low-dose radiation in man, and surveys the epidemiological studies of human populations exposed to nuclear explosions and medical radiation. Discussion centers on the contributions of quantitative epidemiology to present knowledge, the reliability of the dose-incidence data, and those relevant epidemiological studies that provide the most useful information for risk estimation of cancer inducti...

The current knowledge of the carcinogenic effect of radiation in man is considered. The discussion is restricted to dose-incidence data in humans, particularly to certain of those epidemiological studies of human populations that are used most frequently for risk estimation for low-dose radiation carcinogenesis in man. Emphasis is placed solely on those surveys concerned with nuclear explosions and medical exposures. (ACR)

Acute poisonings by medical, narcotic substances and alcohol are actual in Russia in the recent years. Comparison of analytic facilities of modern analytical techniques: chromatographic (HPLC, GC, GC-MS) and immuno-chemical (FPIA) in clinical toxicology for urgent diagnostics, assessment of the severity of acute poisoning and the efficacy of the treatment in patients with acute poisonings by psychotropic drugs, narcotics and alcohol have been done. The object of the study were serum, blood, urine of 611 patients with acute poisonings by amitriptyline, clozapine, carbamazepine, opiates and also alcohol. Threshold concentrations (threshold, critical and lethal) of the toxicants and their active metabolites which corresponded to different degrees of poisoning severity have been determined. The most comfortable and informative screening method for express diagnostics and assessment of severity of acute poisonings by psychotropic drugs and narcotics showed the HPLC with using automatic analyzers. FPIA using the automatic analyzer could be applied for screening studies, if group identification is enough. GC-FID method is advisable in case of poisoning by medical substances and narcotics in view of repeated investigation for assessment of the efficacy of the therapy. GC-MS could be advisable for confirming the results of other methods. GC-TCD possess high sensitivity and specificity and is optimal for express differential diagnostics and quantitative assessment of acute poisoning by ethanol and other alcohols. PMID:16225131

Undisclosed use of illicit drugs and prescription controlled substances is frequent in some settings. The aim of the present study was to estimate the reliability of self-reported use of amphetamine, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cannabinoids, cocaine, methadone, and opiates among acutely...... hospitalized medical patients....

The implementation of activity-based payment system named T2A-tarification à l'activité-in 2004 profoundly modified the financing of French hospitals. Presently applied to activities concerning medicine, surgery and obstetrics, the pricing for these activities was developed using the National Costs Study. The considerable differences observed between costs in the private sector and those in the public sector are in part justified, by the latter, by caring for patients with social deprivation. The goal of this study is to measure the influence of social deprivation on the length of hospitalisation. A survey on inpatient social deprivation was carried out from November to December 2008 by the French Ministry of Health (Department of Research, Study, Evaluation and Statistics-DREES, and technical agency of Hospital information-ATIH). Four dimensions of social deprivation were taken into consideration after a previous qualitative study: social isolation, quality of housing, level of income and access to rights. The sample is based on 27 hospitals, including public and private (for-profit and not-for-profit), representing 57,175 stays, 6,800 of which were patients with social deprivation. After multivariate analyses adjusted for age, severity of illness and DRG, we found that there was a longer length of stay for inpatients with social deprivation (+16%), and in particular for patients living in social isolation (+17%) and for patients with inadequate housing (+17%). The impact of low income on the length of stay is less important. However, low income associated with inadequate housing significantly increases lengths of stay (+24%). PMID:22095444

Vitamin D insufficiency, defined as low serum concentrations of the major circulating form of vitamin D, 25 hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), has been associated with the development of numerous infectious, inflammatory, and neoplastic disorders in humans. In addition, vitamin D insufficiency has been found to be predictive of mortality for many disorders. However, interpretation of human studies is difficult since vitamin D status is influenced by many factors, including diet, season, latitude, and exposure to UV radiation. In contrast, domesticated cats do not produce vitamin D cutaneously, and most cats are fed a commercial diet containing a relatively standard amount of vitamin D. Consequently, domesticated cats are an attractive model system in which to examine the relationship between serum 25(OH)D and health outcomes. The hypothesis of this study was that vitamin D status would predict short term, all-cause mortality in domesticated cats. Serum concentrations of 25(OH)D, together with a wide range of other clinical, hematological, and biochemical parameters, were measured in 99 consecutively hospitalised cats. Cats which died within 30 days of initial assessment had significantly lower serum 25(OH)D concentrations than cats which survived. In a linear regression model including 12 clinical variables, serum 25(OH)D concentration in the lower tertile was significantly predictive of mortality. The odds ratio of mortality within 30 days was 8.27 (95% confidence interval 2.54-31.52) for cats with a serum 25(OH)D concentration in the lower tertile. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that low serum 25(OH)D concentration status is an independent predictor of short term mortality in cats. PMID:25970442

Introduction: This experimental study of biological effects of the Antiradiation Vaccine and Antioxidants which were used for prophylaxis and treatment of the Acute Radiation Syndromes caused by high doses of the low-LET radiation. An important role of Reactive Oxyden Species (Singlet oxygen, hydroxyl radicals, superoxide anions and bio-radicals)in development of the Acute Radiation Syndromes could be defined as a "central dogma" of radiobiology. Oxida-tion and damages of lipids, proteins, DNA, and RNA are playing active role in development of postradiation apoptosis. However, the therapeutic role of antioxidants in modification of a postradiation injury caused by high doses of radiation remains controversial.Previous stud-ies had revealed that antioxidants did not increase a survival rate of mammals with severe forms of the Acute Radiation Syndromes caused by High Doses of the low-LET radiation. The Antiradiation Vaccine(ARV) contains toxoid forms of the Radiation Toxins(RT) from the Specific Radiation Determinants Group (SRD). The RT SRD has toxic and antigenic prop-erties at the same time and stimulates a specific antibody elaboration and humoral response form activated acquired immune system. The blocking antiradiation antibodies induce an im-munologically specific effect and have inhibiting effects on radiation induced neuro-toxicity, vascular-toxicity, gastrointestinal toxcity, hematopoietic toxicity, and radiation induced cytol-ysis of selected groups of cells that are sensitive to radiation. Methods and materials: Scheme of experiments: 1. Irradiated animals with development of Cerebrovascular ARS (Cv-ARS), Cardiovascular ARS (Cr-ARS) Gastrointestinal ARS(GI-ARS), Hematopoietic ARS (H-ARS) -control -were treated with placebo administration. 2. Irradiated animals were treated with antioxidants prophylaxisis and treatment of Cv-ARS, Cr-SRS, GI-ARS, Hp-ARS forms of the ARS. 3. irradiated animals were treated with radioprotection by Antiradiation Vaccine

Full Text Available Patients undergoing treatment with amiodarone can develop severe pulmonary side effects. This effect, which is often highly underestimated, can lead to dyspnea, pneumonitis, and further fibrosis. A recent change in the labeling of amdiodarone by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA supports this suspicion. Tracing the symptoms back to the causing agent can be difficult, as shown in our report. The subject of this case report is an endurance-trained 65 year old male marathon runner who appeared with atrial fibrillation during a routine check up in autumn 2003. After medical cardioversion with flecainide a complaint free interval of 8 months was followed by a relapse, which resulted in a change of medication to amiodarone. Due to misunderstandings the patient kept on taking the amiodarone loading dose for six weeks and returned with severe dyspnea on exertion. Losses in CO diffusing capacity, a lowered macrophages count and a positive lymphocyte transformation test were the only first hand clinical evidence of amiodarone intoxication, despite the sensation of dyspnea. This case shows that special care has to be taken in treatment with amiodarone. Side effects can be hard to trace and do not evidently show a clear connection to amiodarone.

Background: There is an ongoing discussion on the further promotion of integrated care models in many healthcare systems. Only a few data, which examine the effect of integrated care models on medical expenditures and quality of care in chronically ill patients, exist.Aims: To investigate the effect of integrated care models on disease-related hospitalisations as a quality indicator and healthcare costs in patients with either diabetes, cardiovascular diseases or respiratory illnesses.Methods...

Full Text Available BackgroundThe aim of the study was to undertake a six-year analysisfrom 1999/00 to 2004/05, of the demographiccharacteristics of hospitalisations for the surgical removal ofimpacted teeth in Western Australia under generalanaesthesia.MethodData for the current analysis was obtained from theWestern Australian Hospital Morbidity Data System(HMDS. Gender, age, indigenous status, place of residence,type of hospital admitted, insurance status, and DiagnosticRelated Group (DRG cost estimates for the procedure wereanalysed.ResultsA total of 37.6% of all oral health-related hospitalisations inWestern Australia over the six years were for the removal ofimpacted teeth. Admitted patients were predominantlyfemales (58.8% and very few Indigenous people werehospitalised (0.2%. The average age of patients was 21.4years (sd=9.9. Metropolitan patients were hospitalised 1.5times more than rural patients for this condition. Themajority of patients were hospitalised at a privatemetropolitan hospital and were insured. The total cost ofhospitalisation for this condition contributes to 27% of allthe oral health condition-related hospitalisation costs.ConclusionThis study suggests that the hospital-based removal ofimpacted teeth in Western Australia is associated withfactors such as indigenous status, age, gender and privatehospital access along with insurance status raisinginteresting questions over the equity of provision of thisservice.

Introduction: This experimental study of biological effects of the Antiradiation Vaccine and Antioxidants which were used for prophylaxis and treatment of the Acute Radiation Syndromes caused by high doses of the low-LET radiation. An important role of Reactive Oxyden Species (Singlet oxygen, hydroxyl radicals, superoxide anions and bio-radicals)in development of the Acute Radiation Syndromes could be defined as a "central dogma" of radiobiology. Oxida-tion and damages of lipids, proteins, DNA, and RNA are playing active role in development of postradiation apoptosis. However, the therapeutic role of antioxidants in modification of a postradiation injury caused by high doses of radiation remains controversial.Previous stud-ies had revealed that antioxidants did not increase a survival rate of mammals with severe forms of the Acute Radiation Syndromes caused by High Doses of the low-LET radiation. The Antiradiation Vaccine(ARV) contains toxoid forms of the Radiation Toxins(RT) from the Specific Radiation Determinants Group (SRD). The RT SRD has toxic and antigenic prop-erties at the same time and stimulates a specific antibody elaboration and humoral response form activated acquired immune system. The blocking antiradiation antibodies induce an im-munologically specific effect and have inhibiting effects on radiation induced neuro-toxicity, vascular-toxicity, gastrointestinal toxcity, hematopoietic toxicity, and radiation induced cytol-ysis of selected groups of cells that are sensitive to radiation. Methods and materials: Scheme of experiments: 1. Irradiated animals with development of Cerebrovascular ARS (Cv-ARS), Cardiovascular ARS (Cr-ARS) Gastrointestinal ARS(GI-ARS), Hematopoietic ARS (H-ARS) -control -were treated with placebo administration. 2. Irradiated animals were treated with antioxidants prophylaxisis and treatment of Cv-ARS, Cr-SRS, GI-ARS, Hp-ARS forms of the ARS. 3. irradiated animals were treated with radioprotection by Antiradiation Vaccine

The present review provides an understanding of our current knowledge of the carcinogenic effect of low-dose radiation in man, and surveys the epidemiological studies of human populations exposed to nuclear explosions and medical radiation. Discussion centers on the contributions of quantitative epidemiology to present knowledge, the reliability of the dose-incidence data, and those relevant epidemiological studies that provide the most useful information for risk estimation of cancer-induction in man. Reference is made to dose-incidence relationships from laboratory animal experiments where they may obtain for problems and difficulties in extrapolation from data obtained at high doses to low doses, and from animal data to the human situation. The paper describes the methods of application of such epidemiological data for estimation of excess risk of radiation-induced cancer in exposed human populations, and discusses the strengths and limitations of epidemiology in guiding radiation protection philosophy and public health policy

The present review provides an understanding of our current knowledge of the carcinogenic effect of low-dose radiation in man, and surveys the epidemiological studies of human populations exposed to nuclear explosions and medical radiation. Discussion centers on the contributions of quantitative epidemiology to present knowledge, the reliability of the dose-incidence data, and those relevant epidemiological studies that provide the most useful information for risk estimation of cancer-induction in man. Reference is made to dose-incidence relationships from laboratory animal experiments where they may obtain for problems and difficulties in extrapolation from data obtained at high doses to low doses, and from animal data to the human situation. The paper describes the methods of application of such epidemiological data for estimation of excess risk of radiation-induced cancer in exposed human populations, and discusses the strengths and limitations of epidemiology in guiding radiation protection philosophy and public health policy.

A 61-year-old woman was diagnosed with combined valvular disease and atrial fibrillation, and was admitted for surgery. We performed double valve replacement, tricuspid annuloplasty and maze operation. At the operation, a 19 mm St. Jude Medical Regent valve was implanted with non-everting mattress sutures at the aortic supra-annular position after mitral valve replacement. Although pulling down of the prosthesis into the aortic annulus was easy, the leaflets were unable to open at all in a movability test. After removing several stitches on the mitral side of the hinges, the subvalvular tissue was seen bulging into the hinge, hindering the free movement. The prosthesis was removed and replaced with a 17 mm Regent valve by the same technique. The patient's postoperative course was uneventful. We suggest it is necessary to pay special attention to the structural characteristics of the prosthesis. PMID:26066878

Full Text Available Adherence to guidelines is associated with improved outcomes of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS. Clinical registries developed to assess quality of care at discharge often do not collect the reasons for non-prescription for proven efficacious preventive medication in Continental Europe. In a prospective cohort of patients hospitalized for an ACS, we aimed at measuring the rate of recommended treatment at discharge, using pre-specified quality indicators recommended in cardiologic guidelines and including systematic collection of reasons for non-prescription for preventive medications.In a prospective cohort with 1260 patients hospitalized for ACS, we measured the rate of recommended treatment at discharge in 4 academic centers in Switzerland. Performance measures for medication at discharge were pre-specified according to guidelines, systematically collected for all patients and included in a centralized database.Six hundred and eighty eight patients(54.6% were discharged with a main diagnosis of STEMI, 491(39% of NSTEMI and 81(6.4% of unstable angina. Mean age was 64 years and 21.3% were women. 94.6% were prescribed angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin II receptor blockers at discharge when only considering raw prescription rates, but increased to 99.5% when including reasons non-prescription. For statins, rates increased from 98% to 98.6% when including reasons for non-prescription and for beta-blockers, from 82% to 93%. For aspirin, rates further increased from 99.4% to 100% and from to 99.8% to 100% for P2Y12 inhibitors.We found a very high adherence to ACS guidelines for drug prescriptions at discharge when including reasons for non-prescription to drug therapy. For beta-blockers, prescription rates were suboptimal, even after taking into account reason for non-prescription. In an era of improving quality of care to achieve 100% prescription rates at discharge unless contra-indicated, pre-specification of reasons

OBJECTIVE: To assess the risk and risk factors for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) hospitalisation and determinants of the severity of RSV disease in children with heart disease. METHODS: By using a database on RSV tests in Denmark all children with RSV diagnosed with heart disease in Denmark...... hospitalisation predictors of the need for respiratory support (supplemental oxygen, nasal continuous positive airway pressure or mechanical ventilation) were young age (relative risk (RR) 0.47, 95% CI 0.32 to 0.67 per additional year of age) and cardiac decompensation (RR 1.81, 95% CI 1.02 to 3.......23). The incidence rate of RSV hospitalisation among children with any heart disease aged 0-23 months was 5.65 per 100 child-years. CONCLUSION: In children with heart disease risk factors for RSV admission are Down syndrome, cardiomyopathy and haemodynamically significant heart disease. Young age and cardiac...

Full Text Available The independent relationship between physical inactivity and risk of death after an index chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD hospitalisation is unknown. We conducted a retrospective cohort study in a large integrated healthcare system. Patients were included if they were hospitalised for COPD between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011. All-cause mortality in the 12 months after discharge was the primary outcome. Physical activity, expressed as self-reported minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA, was routinely assessed at outpatient visits prior to hospitalisation. 1727 (73% patients were inactive (0 min of MVPA per week, 412 (17% were insufficiently active (1–149 min of MVPA per week and 231 (10% were active (≥150 min of MVPA per week. Adjusted Cox regression models assessed risk of death across the MVPA categories. Among 2370 patients (55% females and mean age 73±11 years, there were 464 (20% deaths. Patients who were insufficiently active or active had a 28% (adjusted HR 0.72 (95% CI 0.54–0.97, p=0.03 and 47% (adjusted HR 0.53 (95% CI 0.34–0.84, p<0.01 lower risk of death, respectively, in the 12 months following an index COPD hospitalisation compared to inactive patients. Any level of MVPA is associated with lower risk of all-cause mortality after a COPD hospitalisation. Routine assessment of physical activity in clinical care would identify persons at high risk for dying after COPD hospitalisation.

The purpose of this study is to reveal the principles of medical rehabilitation different degree acute radiation syndrome (ARS) survivors, who exposed γβ- and γη-irradiation in different radiation accidents. The main reasons of working disability in the late consequences of ARS period are consequences of local radiation injures (LRI) and joining somatic diseases. Its revealing and treatment considerably improves quality of life of the patients. The heaviest consequence of LRI of a skin at γβ- radiation exposure is the development of late radiation ulcers and radiation fibrosis, which require repeated plastic surgery. LRI at γη-radiation exposure differ by the greater depth of destruction of a underlying tissues and similar defects require the early amputations. Last 10 years microsurgery methods of plastic surgery allow to save more large segments of extremities and to decrease expression of the late consequences (radiation fibrosis and late radiation ulcers) LRI severe and extremely severe degrees. Medical rehabilitation of radiation cataract (development at doses more than 2.0 Gy) includes its extraction and artificial lens implantation, if acuity of vision is considerably decreased. Changes of peripheral blood, observed at the period of the long consequences, as a rule, different, moderate, transient and not requiring treatment. Only one ARS survivor dead from chronic myeloid leukemia. Thyroid nodes, not requiring operative intervention, are found out in Chernobyl survivors. Within the time course the concurrent somatic disease become the major importance for patients disability growth, which concurrent diseases seem to be unrelated to radiation dose and their structure does not differ from that found in general public of Russia. The rehabilitation of the persons who have transferred ARS as a result of radiating failure, should be directed on restoration of functions critical for ionizing of radiation of bodies and systems causing reduction of a level of

The purpose of this study is to reveal the principles of medical rehabilitation different degree acute radiation syndrome (ARS) survivors, who exposed {gamma}{beta}- and {gamma}{eta}-irradiation in different radiation accidents. The main reasons of working disability in the late consequences of ARS period are consequences of local radiation injures (LRI) and joining somatic diseases. Its revealing and treatment considerably improves quality of life of the patients. The heaviest consequence of LRI of a skin at {gamma}{beta}- radiation exposure is the development of late radiation ulcers and radiation fibrosis, which require repeated plastic surgery. LRI at {gamma}{eta}-radiation exposure differ by the greater depth of destruction of a underlying tissues and similar defects require the early amputations. Last 10 years microsurgery methods of plastic surgery allow to save more large segments of extremities and to decrease expression of the late consequences (radiation fibrosis and late radiation ulcers) LRI severe and extremely severe degrees. Medical rehabilitation of radiation cataract (development at doses more than 2.0 Gy) includes its extraction and artificial lens implantation, if acuity of vision is considerably decreased. Changes of peripheral blood, observed at the period of the long consequences, as a rule, different, moderate, transient and not requiring treatment. Only one ARS survivor dead from chronic myeloid leukemia. Thyroid nodes, not requiring operative intervention, are found out in Chernobyl survivors. Within the time course the concurrent somatic disease become the major importance for patients disability growth, which concurrent diseases seem to be unrelated to radiation dose and their structure does not differ from that found in general public of Russia. The rehabilitation of the persons who have transferred ARS as a result of radiating failure, should be directed on restoration of functions critical for ionizing of radiation of bodies and

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) often have difficulties with keeping their weight. The aim of this investigation was to study nutritional status in hospitalised Nordic COPD patients and to investigate the association between nutritional status and long-term mortality in...... within the next 2 years. Further studies are needed in order to show whether identifying and treating weight loss and depletion of fat-free mass (FFM) is a way forward in improving the prognosis for hospitalised COPD patients. Udgivelsesdato: 2007-Sep...

A universal immunisation programme against varicella in the form of the measles-mumps-rubella-varicella (MMRV) vaccine for toddlers aged 13-15 months was introduced in Tuscany in July 2008. An assessment of the impact of this programme on varicella-related hospitalisations 4 years after its introduction could further support its adoption at a national level. The hospitalisation data were analysed in two periods: pre-vaccination (2004-2007) and vaccination period (2009-2012). The high coverage of the vaccines (84% in 2012) resulted in a significant decline in notifications, from 33,114 (2004-2007) to 13,184 cases (2009-2012), and also of hospitalisations, from 584 (pre-vaccination period) to 325 (vaccination period). The hospitalisation rate was 4.1 per 100,000 (95% confidence intervals (CI): 3.4-4.7) before the introduction of vaccination, which dropped to 2.2 per 100,000 (95% CI: 1.7-2.7) in the vaccination period (hospitalisation risk ratios: 0.54; 95% CI: 0.472-0.619). The reduction was most significant in the youngest age groups. The introduction of universal vaccination has already led to a significant decline in hospitalisations due to varicella after just 4 years of implementation. Hospitalisation rates fell noticeably among younger individuals involved in the vaccination programme. The decrease in hospitalisation rate in the older age groups suggests a possible indirect protection. PMID:27336188

An original note entitled My Experience of the ''Atomic bomb disease'' by the student in the title, confirmed to exist in the US National Archives and Records Administration, was reviewed and discussed about the exposed dose. He entered the area of Hiroshima City within 2 km distance to the hypocenter on Aug 9, 1945, began to work in a medical aid station for relief and body deal, experienced there the serious malaise, nausea, headache, throat pain and swelling of gums, and on 15, lost consciousness. Thereafter, under the treatment, pain of salivary gland, hyperthermia, unconsciousness, headache, purulence, and pain in the oral cavity appeared occasionally and/or persistently until October or later. These symptoms are virtually consistent with those of acute radiation exposure syndrome, and especially the pain of salivary gland is known to be a particular symptom due to high dose. The process suggests that the dose he was exposed to is conceivably 2-5 Gy. His note was first evaluated from the aspect of dose estimation and strongly suggested the necessity of reconsideration of the present dose assessment of residual radiation in people who had entered the city. (T.T.)

Almost one-quarter of patients presenting with thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAAs) or acute aortic dissections (TAADs) have an underlying mutation in a specific gene. A subset of these patients will have systemic syndromic features, for example, skeletal features in patients with Marfan Syndrome. It is important to note that the majority of patients with thoracic aortic disease will not have these syndromic features but many will have a family history of the disease. The genes predisposing to these thoracic aortic diseases are inherited in an autosomal dominant manner, and thirteen genes have been identified to date. As the clinical phenotype associated with each specific gene is defined, the data indicate that the underlying gene dictates associated syndromic features. More importantly, the underlying gene also dictates the aortic disease presentation, the risk for dissection at a given range of aortic diameters, the risk for additional vascular diseases and what specific vascular diseases occur associated with the gene. These results lead to the recommendation that the medical and surgical management of these patients be dictated by the underlying gene, and for patients with mutations in ACTA2, the specific mutation in the gene. PMID:26837258

interview, but 14 of these drugs were registered in either hospital files or pharmacy records. Overall, the sensitivity of information from hospital files, structured interviews, and pharmacy records in identifying drug users was 87% to 93%, with no significant differences between methods. In conclusion......The medication history among hospitalized patients often relies on patients' self-reports due to insufficient communication between health care professionals. The aim of the present study was to estimate the reliability of patients' self-reported medication use. Five hundred patients admitted to an...... acutemedical department at a Danish university hospital were interviewed on the day of admission about their recent medication use. Blood samples drawn immediately after admission were screened for contents of 5 drugs (digoxin, bendroflumethiazide, amlodipine, simvastatin, glimepiride), and the results...

Full Text Available Abstract Background RSV is recognized as the most important cause of serious lower respiratory tract illness in infants and young children worldwide leading to hospitalisation in a great number of cases, especially in certain high-risk groups. The aims of the present study were to identify risk groups, outcome and incidences of hospitalisation for RSV bronchiolitis in Norwegian children under two years of age and to compare the results with other studies. Methods We performed a population-based retrospective survey for the period 1993–2000 in children under two years of age hospitalised for RSV bronchiolitis. Results 822 admissions from 764 patients were identified, 93% had one hospitalisation, while 7% had two or more hospitalisations. Mean annual hospitalisation incidences were 21.7 per 1.000 children under one year of age, 6.8 per 1.000 children at 1–2 years of age and 14.1 per 1.000 children under two years of age. 77 children (85 admissions belonged to one or more high-risk groups such as preterm birth, trisomy 21 and congenital heart disease. For preterm children under one year of age, at 1–2 years of age and under two years of age hospitalisation incidences per 1.000 children were 23.5, 8.7 and 16.2 respectively. The incidence for children under two years of age with trisomy 21 was 153.8 per 1.000 children. Conclusion While the overall hospitalisation incidences and outcome of RSV bronchiolitis were in agreement with other studies, hospitalisation incidences for preterm children were lower than in many other studies. Age on admission for preterm children, when corrected for prematurity, was comparable to low-risk children. Length of hospitalisation and morbidity was high in both preterm children, children with a congenital heart disease and in children with trisomy 21, the last group being at particular high risk for severe disease.

Full Text Available This case was report of intra-articular bee venom pharmacopuncture injection on the patient with Acute Traumatic Partial tear of meniscus. We used intra-articular bee venom pharmacopuncture injection to Acute Traumatic Partial tear of meniscus diagnosed by symptoms and MR imaging. Be under treatment if necessary we prescribed herbal medication and physiotherapy. The state of patient was measured by Visual Analog Scale(VAS and Walking time and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities(WOMAC Index score. After several times of treatments, noticeable reduction of pain was measured and increased time of walking on floor and decreased WOMAC score. This results suggest that intra-articular bee venom pharmacopuncture injection are effective to treatments of Acute Traumatic Partial tear of meniscus.

Full Text Available Faculty of Medicine of the Masaryk University (MU, and especially its departments focusing on acute medicine, make an active effort to find and to support extra motivated students by organising courses and congresses with simulation-based learning sessions for them. 4th Emergency Medicine Course (EMC and 6th AKUTNĚ.CZ Congress were organised during 2014. EMC was held during a weekend in mid-April for 80 medical students. The congress was held on 22nd November 2014. A group of more than 700 enthusiastic professionals including physicians, nursing staff and medical students interested in acute medicine met again in Brno at the University Campus Bohunice. We also report the evaluation of effectiveness of different types of sessions, as well as its influence on practical skills and the fixation of memory footprint. The website AKUTNĚ.CZ (www.akutne.cz is freely accessible, and anyone can find and watch all the videos and presentations there.

Late HIV diagnosis in the UK remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality. In line with British HIV Association recommendations, we implemented routine HIV Screening in Croydon University Hospital AcuteMedical Unit in London after an audit in 2011 revealed very high levels of late diagnosis. Our re-audit assessed the impact of AcuteMedical Unit screening and found that patients identified by screening, compared to those tested due to clinical suspicion of HIV, were significantly less likely to be diagnosed late, had fewer AIDS-defining illnesses and shorter hospital admissions. In addition, screening identified patients who were not in traditional 'high-risk' groups and patients who had defaulted HIV care and who subsequently re-engaged with care. PMID:26378190

BACKGROUND & AIM: Stress metabolism is associated with accelerated loss of muscle that has large consequences for the old medical patient. The aim of this study was to investigate if an intervention combining protein and resistance training was more effective in counteracting loss of muscle than ...... differences were found. CONCLUSION: No significant effect on muscle mass was observed in this group of acutely ill old medical patients. High compliance was achieved with the dietary intervention, but resistance training was challenging. Clinical trials identifier NCT02077491....

Specific guidelines for the content of discharge summaries from acute stroke services do not currently exist. The aims of this project were to assess the strengths and weaknesses of stroke discharge communication from Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, to develop a structured template to guide completion, and to re-audit discharge communication following its implementation. The audit compared local performance against record standards from the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (1), which ...

In the PREVENIR-5 study, artificial neural networks (NN) were applied to a large sample of patients with recent first acute coronary syndrome (ACS) to identify determinants of persistence of evidence-based cardiovascular medications (EBCM: antithrombotic + beta-blocker + statin + angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor-ACEI and/or angiotensin-II receptor blocker-ARB). From October 2006 to April 2007, 1,811 general practitioners recruited 4,850 patients with a mean time of ACS occurrence of 24...

Background: Hospitalisations in the last phase of life may be related to poor quality of palliative care at home. In the Netherlands, that has a generalist palliative care model, palliative care at home can be given by generalist and palliative care consultants. Aim: To study the association between

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) often have difficulties with keeping their weight. The aim of this investigation was to study nutritional status in hospitalised Nordic COPD patients and to investigate the association between nutritional status and long-term mortality in...

Background: Antipsychotic use for behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) is controversial. Guidelines advise to reduce antipsychotics given the adverse effects and limited efficacy, to limit dose and treatment duration as well as to undertake discontinuation. Methods: A pilot study with 40 hospitalised geriatric cognitively impaired patients, in which the effects of abrupt antipsychotic discontinuation were investigated, using neuropsychiatric inventory (NPI) scores befo...

Few studies on the associations between pre-morbid IQ and mental disorders are based on comprehensive assessment of intelligence in both women and men and include a wide range of confounding variables. Thus, the objective of the present study was to examine the association between pre-morbid IQ and...... hospitalisation with any mental disorder, including possible gender differences in the association....

Full Text Available Abstract Background Asthma is a common yet incompletely understood health problem associated with a high morbidity burden. A wide variety of seasonally variable environmental stimuli such as viruses and air pollution are believed to influence asthma morbidity. This study set out to examine the seasonal patterns of asthma hospitalisations in relation to age and gender for the province of Ontario over a period of 12 years. Methods A retrospective, population-based study design was used to assess temporal patterns in hospitalisations for asthma from April 1, 1988 to March 31, 2000. Approximately 14 million residents of Ontario eligible for universal healthcare coverage during this time were included for analysis. Time series analyses were conducted on monthly aggregations of hospitalisations. Results There is strong evidence of an autumn peak and summer trough seasonal pattern occurring every year over the 12-year period (Fisher-Kappa (FK = 23.93, p > 0.01; Bartlett Kolmogorov Smirnov (BKS = 0.459, p Conclusions A clear and consistent seasonal pattern was observed in this study for asthma hospitalisations. These findings have important implications for the development of effective management and prevention strategies.

Full Text Available The syndrome of acute kidney injury (AKI occurs frequently in hospitalised patients, leading to increased morbidity, mortality, and healthcare expenditure. In the context of a precipitating insult, disturbances in both global and microcirculatory renal blood flow, tubular cell damage, and activation of pro- inflammatory pathways lead to impairment of numerous elements of renal function. Classification systems, including the recent ‘Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes’ (KDIGO classification, typically define and stage AKI in terms of the magnitude of rise in serum creatinine (SCr and the presence of oliguria. At present there is no cure for AKI and the key principles of its management include early recognition, haemodynamic optimisation, correction of hypovolaemia, ceasing and avoidance of nephrotoxic medications, and treatment of the underlying cause. Recent data show that the type and volume of fluid therapy can affect renal function and that further guidance is required. In the future it is hoped that novel technologies, including biomarkers and real-time measurement of glomerular filtration rate will allow the earlier identification of patients with AKI, whilst a greater understanding of the pathogenesis of AKI will lead to the identification of new therapeutic targets. Despite SCr usually recovering after an episode of AKI, there is growing recognition that survivors of AKI are at an increased risk of subsequent chronic kidney disease, including end-stage renal failure and premature death.

Objective Evidence suggests that active collaboration between hospitals and emergency medical services (EMS) is significantly associated with lower acute myocardial infarction (AMI) mortality rates; however, the nature of such collaborations is not well understood. We sought to characterize views of key hospital staff regarding collaboration with EMS in the care of patients hospitalized with AMI. Methods We performed an exploratory analysis of qualitative data previously collected from site visits and in-depth interviews with 11 US hospitals that ranked in the top or bottom 5% of performance on 30-day risk-standardized AMI mortality rates (RSMRs) using Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data from 2005–2007. We selected all codes from the first analysis in which EMS was most likely to have been discussed. A multidisciplinary team analyzed the data using the constant comparative method to generate recurrent themes. Results Both higher and lower performing hospitals reported that EMS is critical to the provision of timely care for patients with AMI. However, close, collaborative relationships with EMS were more apparent in the higher performing hospitals. Higher performing hospitals demonstrated specific investment in and attention to EMS through: 1) respect for EMS as valued professionals and colleagues; 2) strong communication and coordination with EMS; and 3) active engagement of EMS in hospital AMI quality improvement efforts. Conclusion Hospital staff from higher performing hospitals described broad, multifaceted strategies to support collaboration with EMS in providing AMI care. The association of these strategies with hospital performance should be tested quantitatively in a larger, representative study. PMID:23146627

Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) has been recognised as a worldwide emerging pathogen associated with severe respiratory symptoms since 2009. We here report EV-D68 detection in hospitalised patients with acute respiratory infection admitted to three tertiary hospitals in Germany between January 2013 and December 2014. From a total of 14,838 respiratory samples obtained during the study period, 246 (1.7%) tested enterovirus-positive and, among these, 39 (15.9%) were identified as EV-D68. Infection was observed in children and teenagers (0-19 years; n=31), the majority (n=22) being under five years-old, as well as in adults > 50 years of age (n=8). No significant difference in prevalence was observed between the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Phylogenetic analyses based on viral protein 1 (VP1) sequences showed co-circulation of different EV-D68 lineages in Germany. Sequence data encompassing the entire capsid region of the genome were analysed to gain information on amino acid changes possibly relevant for immunogenicity and revealed mutations in two recently described pleconaril binding sites. PMID:27195917

INTRODUCTION: Information about the effect of preadmission oral anticoagulant therapy (OAT) on stroke outcome in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) is scarce. A systematic review was done of the existing data on the association between preadmission OAT and stroke outcome in patients with AF...... haemorrhagic stroke. The proportion of patients in preadmission OAT varied from 5 to 37%, and the proportion who did not receive any antithrombotic therapy (AT) varied from 22 to 75%. The risk of having a severe stroke for patients with an international normalised ratio (INR) < 2 ranged from 26 to 43% compared...

.85-2.60) for stroke in the first year after the thrombotic event. For patients with pulmonary embolism, the relative risks in that year were 2.60 (2.14-3.14) for myocardial infarction and 2.93 (2.34-3.66) for stroke. The relative risks were also raised, though less markedly, during the subsequent 20 years of...

Full Text Available Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs and diabetes (DM are two interrelated conditions that have a heavy morbidity and mortality burden worldwide. Patients with the two conditions usually take multiple medicines and thus are more susceptible to medicine-related problems (MRPs. MRPs can occur at any stage of the treatment process and in many cases can lead to unplanned hospitalisations. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of hospitalisation resulting from MRPs in adult patients with CVDs and/or DM and to identify the main causes, risk factors, and medicine classes involved. A retrospective study included 300 adult patients from two hospitals, one in the United Kingdom and one in Saudi Arabia. To identify MRPs, medical records were reviewed for demographic data, clinical data, laboratory assay, and prescription records. A total of 197 (65.7% patients had MRPs, of which less than 10% were severe. The main problems were lack of treatment effectiveness and adverse drug reactions. Moreover, polypharmacy and patient non-adherence were the main risk factors contributing to MRPs. The main medicine classes associated with MRPs were insulin and antihypertensive medicines. Further research should address the pharmaceutical care processes employed in treating CVDs and DM, and to empower patients/healthcare providers in tackling MRPs.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and diabetes (DM) are two interrelated conditions that have a heavy morbidity and mortality burden worldwide. Patients with the two conditions usually take multiple medicines and thus are more susceptible to medicine-related problems (MRPs). MRPs can occur at any stage of the treatment process and in many cases can lead to unplanned hospitalisations. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of hospitalisation resulting from MRPs in adult patients with CVDs and/or DM and to identify the main causes, risk factors, and medicine classes involved. A retrospective study included 300 adult patients from two hospitals, one in the United Kingdom and one in Saudi Arabia. To identify MRPs, medical records were reviewed for demographic data, clinical data, laboratory assay, and prescription records. A total of 197 (65.7%) patients had MRPs, of which less than 10% were severe. The main problems were lack of treatment effectiveness and adverse drug reactions. Moreover, polypharmacy and patient non-adherence were the main risk factors contributing to MRPs. The main medicine classes associated with MRPs were insulin and antihypertensive medicines. Further research should address the pharmaceutical care processes employed in treating CVDs and DM, and to empower patients/healthcare providers in tackling MRPs. PMID:27171100

Objective: The evaluation of the usefulness of helical computed tomography (HCT) in the diagnosis and therapeutic management of the acute diverticulitis. Materials and methods: Six months retrospective cohort study of 100 patient population clinically suspected of diverticulitis was carried out. The exams were made with oral and intravenous contrast unless the patient presented contraindications. A correlation of these studies with the therapeutic response and clinical follow up was done with surgery and histopathology. Results: From a total of 100 patients studied, 62 presented tomographic diagnosis of diverticulitis, 41 were classified as simple diverticulitis and 21 were complicated cases (abscess, phlegmon, plastron, free perforation, vesicocolonic fistula and intestinal obstruction). In 24 patients an alternative diagnosis was made (appendicitis, appendagitis, urethral litiasis, colitis, salpingitis, pancreatitis, uraco cyst complication, colonic mechanical obstruction, colonic perforation with foreign body): 14 patients did not present tomographic findings to support the clinical symptoms, two of them were false-negative by the clinic and by the response to treatment. These data represented a sensibility of 96,87%, specificity of 100%, PPV of 100% and NPV of 94,7% and a certainty of 98 for the tomography diagnosis of acute diverticulitis. Of the 41 patients with tomographic diagnostic of not complicated diverticulitis, 37 received medical outpatient treatment and only 4 medical treatment with placement; of the 21 patients diagnosed with complicated diverticulitis, 18 were hospitalised with medical treatment and the other 3 patients needed surgery; of the 14 patients without tomographic findings of diverticulitis, in 12 outpatients an expectant conduct was followed and the other 2 received medical outpatient treatment. Conclusion: HCT is very useful and effective in diagnosis, evaluation and management of patients with clinical suspicion of diverticulitis

Background At hospitalisation and discharge the risk of errors in medication information transfer is high. Objective To study the routes by which medication information is transferred during discharge from Deventer Hospital, and to improve medication information transfer. Setting Eight hospital ward

Child abuse is a well-known child care problem. Classically, there are four main types of abuse: physical, sexual and emotional abuse, and neglect. The incidence is often underestimated because a number of cases are not severe enough for caregivers to seek medical help. However, the more severe forms of child abuse can lead to significant morbidity and even mortality. Many studies have addressed the characteristics and outcomes of child abuse. However, the financial burden of child abuse that...

This multiple baseline study evaluated the efficacy of behavioral parent training (BPT) for 12 parents (M age = 39.17 years; 91% mothers) and their children (ages 6-12; 83% boys) both with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and also explored the acute effect of stimulant medication for parents before and after BPT. Parents rated their own and their children's symptoms and impairment and were stabilized on optimally dosed medication. Then, parents discontinued medication and were randomly assigned to a 3, 4, or 5 week baseline (BL), during which they provided twice-weekly ratings of their impairment, parenting, and their child's behavior. Following BL, parents and their children completed two laboratory tasks, once on their optimally dosed medication and once on a placebo to assess observable effects of medication on parent-child behavior, and they completed additional assessments of family functioning. Parents then completed eight BPT sessions, during which they were unmedicated. Twice-weekly ratings of parent and child behavior were collected during BPT and additional ratings were collected upon completing BPT. Two more parent-child tasks with and without parent medication were conducted upon BPT completion to assess the observable effects of BPT and BPT plus medication. Ten (83.33%) parents completed the trial. Improvements in parent and child behavior were observed, and parents reported improved child behavior with BPT. Few benefits of BPT emerged through parent reports of parent functioning, with the exception of inconsistent discipline, and no medication or interaction effects emerged. These results, although preliminary, suggest that some parents with ADHD benefit from BPT. While pharmacological treatment is the most common intervention for adults with ADHD, further examination of psychosocial treatments for adults is needed. PMID:24687848

Most developing countries are implementing the WHO immunisation programme. Although vaccines reach most children, many modifications of the recommended schedule are observed in practice. We investigated the association between vaccination status and risk of hospitalisation in Guinea-Bissau....

Objectives To examine risk of suicide among individuals with hospitalised chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and to profile differences according to sex, age, psychiatric history, and recency and frequency of COPD hospitalisations. Design Nested case–control study. Setting Data were ret...... factor for suicide completion. Risk assessment and prevention efforts should take patients’ sex, age and psychiatric history into consideration.......Objectives To examine risk of suicide among individuals with hospitalised chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and to profile differences according to sex, age, psychiatric history, and recency and frequency of COPD hospitalisations. Design Nested case–control study. Setting Data were...... retrieved from Danish national registries. Participants All suicide cases aged 40–95 years deceased between 1981 and 2006 in Denmark (n=19 869) and up to 20 live population controls per case matched on sex and date of birth (n=321 867 controls). Main outcome measures The relative risk of suicide associated...

Electronic medical records and clinical information systems are increasingly used in hospitals and can be leveraged to improve recognition and care for acute kidney injury. This Acute Dialysis Quality Initiative (ADQI) workgroup was convened to develop consensus around principles for the design of automated AKI detection systems to produce real-time AKI alerts using electronic systems. AKI alerts were recognized by the workgroup as an opportunity to prompt earlier clinical evaluation, further testing and ultimately intervention, rather than as a diagnostic label. Workgroup members agreed with designing AKI alert systems to align with the existing KDIGO classification system, but recommended future work to further refine the appropriateness of AKI alerts and to link these alerts to actionable recommendations for AKI care. The consensus statements developed in this review can be used as a roadmap for development of future electronic applications for automated detection and reporting of AKI. PMID:26925245

Full Text Available Abstract Background The A/H1N1 pandemic originated in Mexico in April 2009, amid high uncertainty, social and economic disruption, and media reports of panic. The aim of this research project was to evaluate the psychological response of family primary caregivers of patients hospitalised in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU with suspected influenza A/H1N1 to establish whether there was empirical evidence of high adverse psychological response, and to identify risk factors for such a response. If such evidence was found, a secondary aim was to develop a specific early intervention of psychological support for these individuals, to reduce distress and possibly lessen the likelihood of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD in the longer term. Methods Psychological assessment questionnaires were administered to the family primary caregivers of patients hospitalised in the ICU in the General Hospital of Zone 1 of the Mexican Institute for Social Security (IMSS, Oaxaca, Mexico with suspected influenza A/H1N1, during the month of November 2009. The main outcome measures were ratings of reported perceived stress (PSS-10, depression (CES-D, and death anxiety (DAQ. Data were subjected to simple and multiple linear regression analysis to identify risk factors for adverse psychological response. Results Elevated levels of perceived stress and depression, compared to population normative data, and moderate levels of death anxiety were noted. Levels of depression were similar to those found in comparable studies of family members of ICU patients admitted for other conditions. Multiple regression analysis indicated that increasing age and non-spousal family relationship were significantly associated with depression and perceived stress. Female gender, increasing age, and higher levels of education were significantly associated with high death anxiety. Comparisons with data collected in previous studies in the same hospital ICU with groups affected by a range of

, and patients. METHODS: Using health administrative data from national registers, all first-time hospitalisations with COPD in Denmark (population 5.4 million) were identified. Data based on the individual hospitalisations and patients were retrieved and analysed. RESULTS: During the period 2002 to.......01-1.34) and the one-year mortality increased OR 1.12 (95% CI1.03-1.21). Concurrently, significant age- and sex-adjusted increases were found in use of intensive care, comorbidity, patient travel distance, bed occupancy rate of the receiving department, prior use of oral and inhaled corticosteroids, use of...... exacerbations has been gradually restricted. This may be causally related to both the centralisation into overcrowded departments and the improved outside hospital treatment of COPD, also demonstrated in this study....

Introduction: This cluster randomised trial evaluated an intervention to decrease x-ray referrals and increase giving advice to stay active for people with acute low back pain (LBP) in general practice. Methods: General practices were randomised to either access to a guideline for acute LBP (cont...... intervention led to small changes in GP intention to practice in a manner that is consistent with an evidence-based guideline, but it did not result in statistically significant changes in actual behaviour....

Full Text Available The majority of acutely ill medical patients are elderly with some degree of renal impairment. In this setting, venous thromboembolism (VTE is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality and, to reduce this risk, a correct thromboprophylaxis is needed. The aim of this single center retrospective study was to assess the safety and efficacy of fondaparinux in elderly acutely ill medical patients with renal impairment. All patients aged 60 years or over, bedridden for at least four days, with a creatinine clearance (CrCl of 50 mL/min or under, and who had received fondaparinux during hospitalization were evaluated and followed for up to 90 days after discharge. A total of 125 patients were evaluated (34.4% males; median age was 83.0 years. Median duration of thromboprophylaxis was 9.0 days. Forty-one (32.8% patients were treated with fondaparinux 1.5 mg daily, 84 (67.2% with 2.5 mg daily. Inappropriately high doses of fondaparinux were used in 77 patients with CrCl 20-50 mL/min, in 12 patients with CrCl below 20 mL/min, in 14 patients with prothrombin time (PT ratio over 1.2, in 8 patients with PT ratio over 1.5, and in 3 patients with thrombocytopenia. No episodes of VTE or of major bleeding were recorded while there were 6 episodes (2.4% of minor bleeding. Both dosages of fondaparinux showed similar safety and efficacy. Twenty-six patients (20.8% died; no cause of death was related to fondaparinux. In conclusion, in elderly acutely ill hospitalized medical patients with renal impairment, prophylaxis with fondaparinux 2.5 or 1.5 mg daily is safe and effective in preventing VTE without increasing bleeding risk.

Full Text Available Background The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of hospitalisation for otitis media across the different risk indicators for Western Australian children (less than 15 years old over a 10-year period. Method This retrospective population-based study usedthe de-identified detailed data of children under the age of 15 years, hospitalised for otitis media(OM, as determined by principal diagnosis (ICD-10AM and obtained from the Western Australian (WA Hospital Morbidity Dataset for 10 financial years from 1999–2000 to 2008–2009. Various risk indicators, including age, gender, Indigenous status, insurance status, hospital area, hospital type,and length of stay were also analysed. Results Out of 26,294 cases of in-hospital care, Indigenous children comprised 4.7per cent(n=1,226, while the non-Indigenous children comprised 95.3 per cent(n=25,068.The majority of the children, nearly 98.8 per cent were admitted for chronic OM. The children were grouped into three age groups, namely, 0–4 years, 5–9 years, and 10–14 years. Nearly two-thirds of all cases were in the 0–4-year age group.Significantly more non-Indigenous (51per cent than Indigenous children (2-percent had private health insurance. The hospitalisation rates were directly proportional between the number of Indigenous children living in the area and the increasing remoteness of the area along with greater socioeconomic disadvantage. There were 24 per cent more cases from very remote areas compared to highly accessible areas, and there were 60 per cent more cases from the most disadvantaged socioeconomic category, compared with the least disadvantaged category, for Indigenous children. Conclusion These data depict the variations in prevalence of otitis media hospitalisations within the community, as affected by various risk indicators.

BackgroundThe aim of the study was to undertake a six-year analysisfrom 1999/00 to 2004/05, of the demographiccharacteristics of hospitalisations for the surgical removal ofimpacted teeth in Western Australia under generalanaesthesia.MethodData for the current analysis was obtained from theWestern Australian Hospital Morbidity Data System(HMDS). Gender, age, indigenous status, place of residence,type of hospital admitted, insurance status, and DiagnosticRelated Group (DRG) cost estimates for ...

Full Text Available Abstract Background In North America, acute respiratory infections are the main reason for doctors' visits in primary care. Family physicians and their patients overuse antibiotics for treating acute respiratory infections. In a pilot clustered randomized trial, we showed that DECISION+, a continuing medical education program in shared decision making, has the potential to reduce the overuse of antibiotics for treating acute respiratory infections. DECISION+ learning activities consisted of three interactive sessions of three hours each, reminders at the point of care, and feedback to doctors on their agreement with patients about comfort with the decision whether to use antibiotics. The objective of this study is to identify the barriers and facilitators to physicians' participation in DECISION+ with the goal of disseminating DECISION+ on a larger scale. Methods/design This descriptive study will use mixed methods and retrospective and prospective components. All analyses will be based on an adapted version of the Ottawa Model of Research Use. First, we will use qualitative methods to analyze the following retrospective data from the pilot study: the logbooks of eight research assistants, the transcriptions of 15 training sessions, and 27 participant evaluations of the DECISION+ training sessions. Second, we will collect prospective data in semi-structured focus groups composed of family physicians to identify barriers and facilitators to the dissemination of a future training program similar to DECISION+. All 39 family physicians exposed to DECISION+ during the pilot project will be eligible to participate. We will use a self-administered questionnaire based on Azjen's Theory of Planned Behaviour to assess participants' intention to take part in future training programs similar to DECISION+. Discussion Barriers and facilitators identified in this project will guide modifications to DECISION+, a continuing medical education program in shared

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Contrast-enhanced radiographic examinations carry the risk of contrast-associated acute kidney injury (CA-AKI). While CA-AKI is a well-known complication outside the intensive care unit (ICU) setting, data on CA-AKI in ICU patients are scarce. Our aim was to assess the incidence and short-term outcome of CA-AKI in a mixed medical-surgical ICU population. METHODS: We conducted a single-center retrospective analysis between September 2006 and December 2008 on adult patient...

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the importance of a history of hypertension on long-term mortality in a large cohort of patients hospitalised with congestive heart failure (CHF). DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of 5491 consecutive patients, of whom 24% had a history of hypertension. 60% of the patients ha...... studies, could not be confirmed. CONCLUSION: A history of arterial hypertension did not affect mortality in patients hospitalised with CHF.......OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the importance of a history of hypertension on long-term mortality in a large cohort of patients hospitalised with congestive heart failure (CHF). DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of 5491 consecutive patients, of whom 24% had a history of hypertension. 60% of the patients had...... with a history of hypertension. 72% of the patients died during follow up. A hypertension history did not affect mortality risk (hazard ratio (HR) 0.99, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.92 to 1.07). Correction for differences between the normotensive and hypertensive groups at baseline in a multivariate...

Full Text Available Abstract Background There is current interest in the role of perinatal factors in the aetiology of diseases that occur later in life. Infectious mononucleosis (IM can follow late primary infection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV, and has been shown to increase the risk of multiple sclerosis and Hodgkin's disease. Little is known about maternal or perinatal factors associated with IM or its sequelae. Methods We investigated perinatal risk factors for hospitalised IM using a prospective record-linkage study in a population in the south of England. The dataset used, the Oxford record linkage study (ORLS, includes abstracts of birth registrations, maternities and in-patient hospital records, including day case care, for all subjects in a defined geographical area. From these sources, we identified cases of hospitalised IM up to the age of 30 years in people for whom the ORLS had a maternity record; and we compared perinatal factors in their pregnancy with those in the pregnancy of children who had no hospital record of IM. Results Our data showed a significant association between hospitalised IM and lower social class (p = 0.02, a higher risk of hospitalised IM in children of married rather than single mothers (p Other factors studied, including low birth weight, short gestational age, maternal smoking, late age at motherhood, did not increase the risk of subsequent hospitalised IM. Conclusions Because of the increasing tendency of women to postpone childbearing, it is useful to know that older age at motherhood is not associated with an increased risk of hospitalised IM in their children. We have no explanation for the finding that children of married women had a higher risk of IM than those of single mothers. Though highly significant, it may nonetheless be a chance finding. We found no evidence that such perinatal factors as birth weight and gestational age, or season of birth, were associated with the risk of hospitalised IM.

Conclusions: The problem of self-medication of prescription only drugs is quite prevalent in this part of the country. As self-medication has its complications and adversities proper orientation and awareness of the population about self-medication is of utmost importance for proper utilization of resources and manpower. Further the government agencies should ensure proper implementation and supervision of laws related to sale of and lsquo;Prescription only drugs'. [Int J Basic Clin Pharmacol 2016; 5(1.000: 33-37

This article is the continuation of the formal description of the metaontology for medical diagnostics in the language of applied logic. It contains a description of interrelations between terms of knowledge and reality in the form of ontological agreements.

Full Text Available Current practice guidelines recommend the routine use of several cardiac medications early in the course of acute myocardial infarction (AMI. Our objective was to analyze temporal trends in medication use and in-hospital mortality of AMI patients in a Chinese population.This is a retrospective observational study using electronic medical records from the hospital information system (HIS of 14 Chinese hospitals. We identified 5599 patients with AMI between 2005 and 2011. Factors associated with medication use and in-hospital mortality were explored by using hierarchical logistic regression.The use of several guideline-recommended medications all increased during the study period: statins (57.7%-90.1%, clopidogrel (61.8%-92.3%, β-Blockers (45.4%-65.1%, ACEI/ARB (46.7%-58.7%, aspirin (81.9%-92.9%, and the combinations thereof increased from 24.9% to 42.8% (P<0.001 for all. Multivariate analyses showed statistically significant increases in all these medications. The in-hospital mortality decreased from 15.9% to 5.7% from 2005 to 2011 (P<0.001. After multivariate adjustment, admission year was still a significant factor (OR = 0.87, 95% CI 0.79-0.96, P = 0.007, the use of aspirin (OR = 0.64, 95% CI 0.46-0.87, clopidogrel (OR = 0.44, 95% CI 0.31-0.61, ACEI/ARB (OR = 0.73, 95% CI 0.56-0.94 and statins (OR = 0.54, 95% CI 0.40-0.73 were associated with a decrease in in-hospital mortality. Patients with older age, cancer and renal insufficiency had higher in-hospital mortality, while they were generally less likely to receive all these medications.Use of guideline-recommended medications early in the course of AMI increased between 2005 and 2011 in a Chinese population. During this same time, there was a decrease in in-hospital mortality.

Full Text Available Abstract Background Otitis media (OM is a very common condition in children and occurs during years that are critical to the development of learning, literacy, and math skills. Therefore, among a large cohort of Danish conscripts, we aimed to examine the association between hospitalisation with OM in early childhood and cognitive function and educational level in early adulthood. Methods We conducted a population-based prevalence study using linked data from healthcare databases and conscription records of Danish men born between 1977 and 1983. We identified all hospitalisations with OM before 8 years of age. Cognitive function was measured by the Boerge Prien validated group intelligence test (Danish Børge Prien Prøve, BPP. We adjusted for potential confounders with and without stratification by hearing impairment. Furthermore, we examined the association between hospitalisation with OM and the prevalence of having achieved a General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE, stratified by quartiles of BPP scores. Results Of the 18 412 eligible conscripts aged 18–25 years, 1000 (5.5% had been hospitalised with OM before age 8. Compared with conscripts without such a record, the adjusted prevalence ratio (PR for a BPP score in the bottom quartile was 1.20 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.09–1.33. There was no major difference in the proportion of men with a GCSE and those without among those hospitalised with OM in early childhood. For men in the bottom and upper quartiles of BPP scores, the PRs for early childhood hospitalisation with OM were 0.89 (95% CI: 0.59–1.33 and 0.96 (95% CI, 0.88–1.05, respectively. Among men with severe hearing impairment, the proportion with a BPP score in the bottom quartile did not differ between those with and without an OM hospitalisation [PR = 1.01 (95% CI: 0.78–1.34]. Conclusions Overall, we found that hospitalisation with OM in early childhood was associated with a slightly lower cognitive

Full Text Available Hee Ja Byeon,1,* Young-Mo Yang,2,* Eun Joo Choi21Department of Pharmacy, Chosun University Hospital, 2Department of Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Chosun University, Gwangju, South Korea*These authors contributed equally to this workBackground: Acute coronary syndrome (ACS is a fatal cardiovascular disease caused by atherosclerotic plaque erosion or rupture and formation of coronary thrombus. The latest guidelines for ACS recommend the combined drug regimen, comprising aspirin, P2Y12 inhibitor, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin II receptor blocker, β-blocker, and statin, at discharge after ACS treatment to reduce recurrent ischemic cardiovascular events. This study aimed to examine prescription patterns of secondary prevention drugs in Korean patients with ACS after hospital discharge, to access the appropriateness of secondary prevention drug therapy for ACS, and to evaluate whether to persistently use discharge medications for 18 months.Methods: This study was retrospectively conducted with the patients who were discharged from the tertiary hospital, located in South Korea, after ACS treatment between September 2009 and August 2013. Data were collected through electronic medical record.Results: Among 3,676 patients during the study period, 494 were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. The regimen of aspirin + clopidogrel + β-blocker + angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin II receptor blocker + statin was prescribed to 374 (75.71% patients with ACS at discharge. Specifically, this regimen was used in 177 (69.69% unstable angina patients, 44 (70.97% non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction patients, and 153 (85.96% ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction patients. Compared with the number of ACS patients with all five guideline-recommended drugs at discharge, the number of ACS patients using them 12 (n=169, 34.21% and 18 (n=105, 21.26% months after discharge tended to be gradually

Background The complex process of discharging patients from acute care to community care requires a multifaceted interaction between all health care providers and patients. Poor communication in a patient’s discharge can result in post hospital adverse events, readmission, and mortality. Because of the gravity of these problems, discharge planning has been emphasized as a potential solution. The purpose of this paper is to identify communication barriers to effective discharge planning in an ...

We studied the characteristics of cardiac remodeling in Wistar rats in the simulation of different variants of acute stress. The results showed an independent contribution of the parasympathetic nervous system in the development of structural changes in the myocardium. Changes of the extracellular matrix are more characteristic for the cholinergic stress, particularly an increase of extracellular spaces and to a greater extent in the right ventricle of the heart.

Full Text Available Acute right ventricular failure in the early period after orthotopic heart transplantation is a severe complication and can often lead to a fatal outcome. This is especially important in patients with high pulmonary arteries resistance. Drug therapy has shown effectiveness only for the treatment of primary pulmonary hypertension. Patient K., 23 years old with signifi cant pulmonary hypertension (mean pulmonary artery pressure of 60 mm Hg, PVR – 6 Wood units underwent orthotopic heart transplantation. Acute right ventricular failure occurred at early postoperative period which required multicomponent inotropic support. In order to reduce resistance of the pulmonary circulation the patient received sildenafi l (daily dose 50 mg in combination with inhaled Ventavis (5 mcg a dose every 3 hours and receipt of Tracleer (bosentan (at a dose of 125 mg per day. Complex drug therapy resulted in reduction of right ventricular failure, normalization of biochemical parameters. Invasive pulmonary artery pressure decreased to 30 mm Hg and pulmonary vascular resistance was 1.1 Wood units at the moment of discharge. We also revealed right ventricle end-diastolic volume reduction from 70 ml to 62 ml and ejection fraction of the right ventricle (RV EF increased from 47,7% to 62% in 2 months. Our clinical observation demonstrates the high effi ciency of acute right heart failure complex therapy including inotropic agents in combination with drugs that reduce the pulmonary vascular resistance.

A relationship between air temperature and the incidence of suicide has been established in a number of previous studies. Interestingly, the relationship between geographical variation in temperature and suicide incidence has generally been found to be negative, while the relationship between temporal variation in temperature and suicide incidence has generally been found to be positive. It is less clear, however, how temperature relates to the incidence of self-harm. This topic is of particular importance given the presence of ongoing global warming. This study investigated the relationship between temperature and the incidence of self-harm resulting in hospitalisation in New Zealand. Self-harm hospitalisations by date and district for 1993-2009 were obtained from the Ministry of Health. Meteorological data was obtained from NIWA. Generalised linear mixed models were used to estimate the effects of three different components of variation in temperature: geographical, seasonal and irregular. Irregular (random) daily variation in temperature had a modest positive relationship with the incidence of acts of self-harm resulting in hospitalisation, with about 0.7% extra incidents for every 1 °C increase in temperature. However, there was no strong evidence for a positive effect of either seasonal or geographical variation in temperature. We conclude that temperature does appear to bear some relation to the incidence of self-harm, with irregular daily variation in temperature having a positive effect. However, inconsistencies in the effects of different components of variation in temperature make it challenging to accurately predict how global warming will influence the incidence of self-harm. PMID:25849087

BACKGROUND: Ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs) are conditions for which the provision of timely and effective outpatient care can reduce the risks of hospitalisation by preventing, controlling or managing a chronic disease or condition. AIMS: The aims of this study were to report on ACSCs in Ireland, and to provide a baseline for future reference. METHODS: Using HIPE, via Health Atlas Ireland, inpatient discharges classified as ACSCs using definitions from the Victorian ACSC study were extracted for the years 2005-2008. Direct methods of standardisation allowed comparison of rates using the EU standard population as a comparison for national data, and national population as comparison for county data. Costs were estimated using diagnosis-related groups. RESULTS: The directly age-standardised discharge rate for ACSC-related discharges increased slightly, but non-significantly, from 15.40 per 1,000 population in 2005 to 15.75 per 1,000 population in 2008. The number of discharges increased (9.5%) from 63,619 in 2005 to 69,664 in 2008, with the estimated associated hospital costs increasing (31.5%) from 267.8 million in 2005 to 352.2 million in 2008. Across the country, there was considerable variation in the discharge rates for the Top-10 ACSCs for the years 2005-2008. Significantly lower rates of hospitalisation were observed in more urban areas including Cork, Dublin and Galway. The most common ACSC in 2008 was diabetes with complications (29.8%). CONCLUSIONS: The variation in rates observed indicates the scope of reducing hospitalisations and associated costs for ACSCs, across both adult\\'s and children\\'s services and particularly in relation to diabetes complications.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Diabetes mellitus is believed to increase susceptibility to infectious diseases. The effects of hyperglycaemia per se on infectious disease risk are unknown and the influence of diabetes on infectious disease outcome is controversial. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied 10......,063 individuals from the Danish general population, who were participants in The Copenhagen City Heart Study, over a follow-up period of 7 years. Risk of hospitalisation caused by any infectious disease, and subsequent risk of disease progression to death were estimated by Cox proportional hazards regression...

Background: The aim of the study was to determine the costs of treating schizophrenia from the perspective of the statutory health insurance, as well as the identification of predictors of hospitalisation of formerly stable schizophrenia patients. Methods: Claims data for the years 2004-2006 were analysed. Patients who did not have to be treated in a hospital as a result of an ICD diagnosis F20 both in the year 2005 as well as also in 2006 were defined as stable patients. In contrast, those p...

Early Intervention in Psychosis services aim to keep young people out of hospital, but this is not always possible. This research used in-depth interviews to explore the experience of hospitalisation amongst young people with psychosis. Findings describe fear and confusion at admission, conflicting experiences of the inpatient unit as both safe and containing, and unsafe and chaotic, and the difficult process of maintaining identity in light of the admission. We discuss the need to move from construing psychiatric hospitals as places for 'passive seclusion', to developing more permeable and welcoming environments that can play an active role in recovery. PMID:25460906

Full Text Available To determine trends in the incidence of foot-related hospitalisation and amputation amongst persons with diabetes in Queensland (Australia between 2005 and 2010 that coincided with changes in state-wide ambulatory diabetic foot-related complication management.All data from cases admitted for the principal reason of diabetes foot-related hospitalisation or amputation in Queensland from 2005-2010 were obtained from the Queensland Hospital Admitted Patient Data Collection dataset. Incidence rates for foot-related hospitalisation (admissions, bed days used and amputation (total, minor, major cases amongst persons with diabetes were calculated per 1,000 person-years with diabetes (diabetes population and per 100,000 person-years (general population. Age-sex standardised incidence and age-sex adjusted Poisson regression models were also calculated for the general population.There were 4,443 amputations, 24,917 hospital admissions and 260,085 bed days used for diabetes foot-related complications in Queensland. Incidence per 1,000 person-years with diabetes decreased from 2005 to 2010: 43.0% for hospital admissions (36.6 to 20.9, 40.1% bed days (391 to 234, 40.0% total amputations (6.47 to 3.88, 45.0% major amputations (2.18 to 1.20, 37.5% minor amputations (4.29 to 2.68 (p < 0.01 respectively. Age-sex standardised incidence per 100,000 person-years in the general population also decreased from 2005 to 2010: 23.3% hospital admissions (105.1 to 80.6, 19.5% bed days (1,122 to 903, 19.3% total amputations (18.57 to 14.99, 26.4% major amputations (6.26 to 4.61, 15.7% minor amputations (12.32 to 10.38 (p < 0.01 respectively. The age-sex adjusted incidence rates per calendar year decreased in the general population (rate ratio (95% CI; hospital admissions 0.949 (0.942-0.956, bed days 0.964 (0.962-0.966, total amputations 0.962 (0.946-0.979, major amputations 0.945 (0.917-0.974, minor amputations 0.970 (0.950-0.991 (p < 0.05 respectively.There were significant

Background Little is known about Emergency Medical Services (EMS) use and pre-hospital triage of patients with acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in Arabian Gulf countries. Methods Clinical arrival and acute care within 24 h of STEMI symptom onset were compared between patients transferred by EMS (Red Crescent and Inter-Hospital) and those transferred by non-EMS means. Data were retrieved from a prospective registry of 36 hospitals in 6 Arabian Gulf countries, from January 2014 to January 2015. Results We enrolled 2,928 patients; mean age, 52.7 (SD ±11.8) years; 90% men; and 61.7% non-Arabian Gulf citizens. Only 753 patients (25.7%) used EMS; which was mostly via Inter-Hospital EMS (22%) rather than direct transfer from the scene to the hospital by the Red Crescent (3.7%). Compared to the non-EMS group, the EMS group was more likely to arrive initially at a primary or secondary health care facility; thus, they had longer median symptom-onset-to-emergency department arrival times (218 vs. 158 min; p˂.001); they were more likely to receive primary percutaneous coronary interventions (62% vs. 40.5%, p = 0.02); they had shorter door-to-needle times (38 vs. 42 min; p = .04); and shorter door-to-balloon times (47 vs. 83 min; p˂.001). High EMS use was independently predicted mostly by primary/secondary school educational levels and low or moderate socioeconomic status. Low EMS use was predicted by a history of angina and history of percutaneous coronary intervention. The groups had similar in-hospital deaths and outcomes. Conclusion Most acute STEMI patients in the Arabian Gulf region did not use EMS services. Improving Red Crescent infrastructure, establishing integrated STEMI networks, and launching educational public campaigns are top health care system priorities. PMID:26807577

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Many countries have introduced legislations for public smoking bans to reduce the harmful effects of exposure to tobacco smoke. Smoking bans cause significant reductions in admissions for acute coronary syndromes but their impact on respiratory diseases is unclear. In Geneva, Switzerland, two popular votes led to a stepwise implementation of a state smoking ban in public places, with a temporary suspension. This study evaluated the effect of this smoking ban on hospitalisations for acute respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. METHODS: This before and after intervention study was conducted at the University Hospitals of Geneva, Switzerland, across 4 periods with different smoking legislations. It included 5,345 patients with a first hospitalisation for acute coronary syndrome, ischemic stroke, acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia and acute asthma. The main outcomes were the incidence rate ratios (IRR of admissions for each diagnosis after the final ban compared to the pre-ban period and adjusted for age, gender, season, influenza epidemic and secular trend. RESULTS: Hospitalisations for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease significantly decreased over the 4 periods and were lowest after the final ban (IRR=0.54 [95%CI: 0.42-0.68]. We observed a trend in reduced admissions for acute coronary syndromes (IRR=0.90 [95%CI: 0.80-1.00]. Admissions for ischemic stroke, asthma and pneumonia did not significantly change. CONCLUSIONS: A legislative smoking ban was followed by a strong decrease in hospitalisations for acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and a trend for reduced admissions for acute coronary syndrome. Smoking bans are likely to be very beneficial for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

AIM: To study clinical characteristics and management of patients with early severe acute pancreatitis (ESAP).METHODS: Data of 297 patients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) admitted to our hospital within 72 h after onset of symptoms from January 1991 to June 2003 were reviewed for the occurrence and development of early severe acute pancreatitis (ESAP). ESAP was defined as presence of organ dysfunction within 72 h after onset of symptoms. Sixtynine patients had ESAP, 228 patients without organ dysfunction within 72 h after onset of symptoms had SAR The clinical characteristics, incidence of organ dysfunction during hospitalization and prognosis between ESAP and SAP were compared.RESULTS: Impairment degree of pancreas (Balthazar CT class) in ESAP was more serious than that in SAP (5.31±0.68 vs 3.68±0.29, P＜0.01). ESAP had a higher mortality than SAP (43.4% vs 2.6%, P＜0.01), and a higher incidence of hypoxemia (85.5% vs 25%, P＜0.01), pancreas infection (15.9% vs7.5% , P＜0.05), abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) (78.3% vs 23.2%, P＜0.01) and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS)(78.3% vs 10.1%, P＜0.01). In multiple logistic regression analysis, the main predisposing factors to ESAP were higher APACHE Ⅱ score, Balthazar CT class, MODS and hypoxemia.CONCLUSION: ESAP is characterised by MODS, severe pathological changes of pancreas, early hypoxemia and abdominal compartment syndrome. Given the poor prognosis of ESAP, these patients should be treated in specialized intensive care units with special measures such as close supervision, fluid resuscitation, improvement of hypoxemia, reduction of pancreatic secretion, elimination of inflammatory mediators, prevention and treatment of pancreatic infections.

to the hospital. DESIGN:: Population-based survey. SETTING:: Medical emergency department from September 1, 2010, to August 31, 2011. PATIENTS:: All patients were manually reviewed using a structured protocol in order to identify the presence of infection. Vital signs and laboratory values were...

Objectives We sought to compare the characteristics of patients with asthma presenting to the emergency department (ED) during the night-time with those of patients presenting at other times of the day, and to determine whether the time of ED presentation is associated with the risk of hospitalisation. Design and setting A multicentre chart review study of 23 EDs across Japan. Participants Patients aged 18–54 years with a history of physician-diagnosed asthma, presented to the ED between January 2009 and December 2011 Outcome measures The outcome of interest was hospitalisation, including admissions to an observation unit, inpatient unit and intensive care unit. Results Among the 1354 patients (30.1% in the night-time group vs 69.9% in the other time group) included in this study, the median age was 34 years and ∼40% were male. Overall 145 patients (10.7%) were hospitalised. Patients in the night-time group were more likely to have a shorter duration of symptoms (≤3 hours) before ED presentation than those in the other time group (25.9% in night-time vs 13.4% in other times; p0.05). Similarly, the risk of hospitalisation did not differ between the two groups (11.3% in night-time vs 10.5% in other times; p=0.65). In a multivariable model adjusting for potential confounders, the risk of hospitalisation in the night-time group was not statistically different from the other time group (OR, 1.10; 95% CI 0.74 to 1.61; p=0.63). Conclusions This multicentre study in Japan demonstrated no significant difference in the risk of hospitalisations according to the time of ED presentation. PMID:27519919

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the literature on image-based telemedicine for medical expert consultation in acute care of injuries, considering system, user, and clinical aspects. DESIGN: Systematic review of peer-reviewed journal articles. DATA SOURCES: Searches of five databases and in eligible articles, relevant reviews, and specialized peer-reviewed journals. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Studies were included that covered teleconsultation systems based on image capture and transfer with the objective of seeking medical expertise for the diagnostic and treatment of acute injury care and that presented the evaluation of one or several aspects of the system based on empirical data. Studies of systems not under routine practice or including real-time interactive video conferencing were excluded. METHOD: The procedures used in this review followed the PRISMA Statement. Predefined criteria were used for the assessment of the risk of bias. The DeLone and McLean Information System Success Model was used as a framework to synthesise the results according to system quality, user satisfaction, information quality and net benefits. All data extractions were done by at least two reviewers independently. RESULTS: Out of 331 articles, 24 were found eligible. Diagnostic validity and management outcomes were often studied; fewer studies focused on system quality and user satisfaction. Most systems were evaluated at a feasibility stage or during small-scale pilot testing. Although the results of the evaluations were generally positive, biases in the methodology of evaluation were concerning selection, performance and exclusion. Gold standards and statistical tests were not always used when assessing diagnostic validity and patient management. CONCLUSIONS: Image-based telemedicine systems for injury emergency care tend to support valid diagnosis and influence patient management. The evidence relates to a few clinical fields, and has substantial methodological

The diagnostic specificity of 125I-fibrinogen scanning ranges between 0.69 and 0.93. Patients with a deep-venous thrombosis diagnosed by this method have a significantly increased incidence of a perfusion/ventilation scintigrafically verified pulmonary embolism. The diagnostic specificity of a perfusion/ventilation scintigrafy ranges between 0.76 and 1.00. However, what is the clinical significance of a positive perfusion/ventilation scintigrafy, when used as a screening procedure. In patients with myocardial infarction, low-dose heparin results in reduced incidence of 125I-fibrinogen scan diagnosed deep-venous thrombosis. However, most recent papers do not show any significant reduction. Clinical trials with randomizaton according to different risk groups are required in order to clarify whether these groups will benefit from prophylaxis with low-dose heparin. As low-dose heparin has resulted in significantly increased incidence of wound-haematomas in surgical patients, we do not find the treatment advisible in patients with acute stroke, as long as one can not distinguish between haemorrhagic and thrombotic vascular insult, even though the prophylaxis reduces the incidence of deep-venous thrombosis significantly. Patient-groups with other acute internal medical diseases are not yet adequatly investigated. (author)

The population hospitalised in psychiatry seems more exposed to traumatic events than the French general population, with particularly more sexual aggressions. The aim of this study is to describe the population hospitalised in psychiatry and more precisely the traumatic history of these patients, their comorbidities (mental diseases and addictions), and socio economical level. This descriptive, cross sectional and retrospective study took place in the Crisis Center in the University Hospital in Martinique (French West Indies), from February to July 2013. A socio-demographic information, the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview 5.0, the Trauma History Questionnaire and the Impact Events Scale-Revised were realised with 49 of the 143 patients admitted during this period (34.3%). In this population, we found a mean of 6.5 (standart-deviation=4.2) different types of traumatic event, with 38.8% patients reporting a natural disaster, and 38.8% declaring at least one sexual aggression. In the 25 patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, 66.7% underwent a sexual aggression, significatively during childhood (before 10 years old, P=0.01), and during adolescence (between 10 to 18 years old, P=0.01). These results underline the importance of a systematic screening of the traumatic profile: the characteristics of the traumatic events and its clinical impact. PMID:25590554

Lyme borreliosis (LB) has become a major concern recently, as trends in several epidemiological studies indicate that there has been an increase in this disease in Europe and America over the last decade. This work provides estimates of LB incidence and hospitalisation rates in France. LB data was obtained from the Sentinelles general practitioner surveillance network (2009–2012) and from the Programme de Médicalisation des Systèmes d’Information (PMSI) data processing centre for hospital discharges (2004–09). The yearly LB incidence rate averaged 42 per 100,000 inhabitants (95% confidence interval (CI): 37–48), ranging from 0 to 184 per 100,000 depending on the region. The annual hospitalisation rate due to LB averaged 1.55 per 100,000 inhabitants (95% CI: 1.42–1.70). Both rates peaked during the summer and fall and had a bimodal age distribution (5–10 years and 50–70 years). Healthcare providers should continue to invest attention to prompt recognition and early therapy for LB, whereas public health strategies should keep promoting use of repellent, daily checks for ticks and their prompt removal. PMID:25188613

Full Text Available Pneumonia is caused by respiratory bacteria and/or viruses. Little is known if co-infections are an aggravating factor in hospitalised children with severe pneumonia. We studied the impact of respiratory pathogens on the severity of pneumonia. Between 2007 and 2009, 52 children hospitalised with a well-documented diagnosis of communityacquired pneumonia (CAP, with or without parapneumonic empyema (PPE, were enrolled in the study. The patients were classified into 2 groups: CAP + PPE (n = 28 and CAP (n = 24. The identification of respiratory viruses and bacteria in nasopharyngeal aspirates and pleural effusion samples were performed using conventional bacterial techniques and molecular assays. Using real-time multiplex PCR and antigen detection, Streptococcus pneumoniae was the main agent identified in 76% of the cases by molecular tests and BinaxNOW® in pleural fluid. A total of 8% of pleural fluid samples remained undiagnosed. In nasopharyngeal aspirates, rhinovirus, parainfluenza viruses, human metapneumovirus, and respiratory syncytial virus were detected in both CAP and CAP + PPE populations; however, the percentage of viral co-detection was significantly higher in nasopharyngeal aspirates from CAP + PPE patients (35% compared with CAP patients (5%. In conclusion, viral co-detection was observed mainly in patients with more severe pneumonia. Molecular biology assays improved the pathogens detection in pneumonia and confirmed the S. pneumoniae detection by BinaxNOW® in pleural effusion samples. Interestingly, the main S. pneumoniae serotypes found in PPE are not the ones targeted by the heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.

Background: Hospitalisations for ambulatory care-sensitive (ACS) conditions are used as an indicator of access to, and the quality of, primary care. The objective was to identify factors associated with hospitalisations for ACS conditions among adults with an intellectual disability (ID) in the context of a publicly insured healthcare system.…

A previously healthy 7-year-old Caucasian boy was hospitalised for evaluation of acute ataxia and failure to thrive, initially suspicious for an intracranial mass. Weight and body mass index were below the third percentile and he demonstrated loss of joint position and vibratory sense on examination. Laboratory studies revealed megaloblastic anaemia while an initial MRI of the brain showed no evidence of mass lesions or other abnormalities. A dietary history revealed the child subscribed to a...

Abstract Background Hantaviruses of the family Bunyaviridae are emerging zoonotic pathogens which cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in the Old World and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in the New World. An immune-mediated pathogenesis is discussed for both syndromes. The aim of our study was to investigate cytokine expression during the course of acute Puumala hantavirus infection. Results We retrospectively studied 64 patients hospitalised with acute Puumala hantavirus i...

Background. Cholesterol lowering drugs HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) and PPARα activators (fibrates) have been shown to reduce host inflammation via non-disease specific immunomodulatory mechanisms. Recent studies suggest that commonly prescribed drugs in general practice, statins and fibrates, may be beneficial in influenza-like illness related mortality. This retrospective cohort study examines the association between two lipid lowering drugs, statins and fibrates, and all-cause 30-day mortality following a medically attended acute respiratory illness (MAARI). Methods. Primary care patient data were retrospectively extracted from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) database. The sample comprised 201,179 adults aged 30 years or older experiencing a MAARI episode. Patient exposure to statins or fibrates was coded as separate dichotomous variables and deemed current if the most recent GP prescription was issued in the 30 days prior to MAARI diagnosis. Multivariable logistic regression and Cox regression were used for analyses. Adjustment was carried out for chronic lung disease, heart failure, metformin and glitazones, comorbidity burden, socio-demographic and lifestyle variables such as smoking status and body mass index (BMI). Statistical interaction tests were carried out to check for effect modification by gender, body mass index, smoking status and comorbidity. Results. A total of 1,096 (5%) patients died within the 30-day follow up period. Of this group, 213 (19.4%) were statin users and 4 (0.4%) were fibrate users. After adjustment, a significant 35% reduction in odds [adj OR; 0.65 (95% CI [0.52-0.80])] and a 33% reduction in the hazard [adj HR: 0.67 (95% CI [0.55-0.83])] of all-cause 30-day mortality following MAARI was observed in statin users. A significant effect modification by comorbidity burden was observed for the association between statin use and MAARI-related mortality. Fibrate use was associated with a non

Full Text Available Background: In the last years Non-Invasive Ventilation (NIV has been playing an important role in the treatment of Acute Respiratory Failure (ARF. Prospective randomised controlled trials have shown improvements in clinical features (respiratory rate, neurological score, pH and arterial blood gases and in particular clinical conditions (Acute Cardiogenic Pulmonary Edema, ACPE, and acute exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, COPD systematic reviews and metha-analysis confirm a reduction in the need for intubation and in-hospital mortality compared to standard medical treatment. Methods: The most important techniques of ventilation in spontaneous breathing are: Continuous Positive Airway Pression (CPAP, usually performed with Venturi-like flow generators, and bi-level positive pressure ventilation (an high inspiratory pressure and a low expiratory pressure, performed with ventilators. Facial mask rather than nasal mask is used in ARF: the helmet is useful for prolonged treatments. Results: NIV’s success seems to be determined by early application, correct selection of patients and staff training. Controindications to NIV are: cardiac or respiratory arrest, a respiratory rate < 12 per minute, upper airway obstruction, hemodynamic instability or unstable cardiac arrhythmia, encephalopathy (Kelly score > 3, facial surgery trauma or deformity, inability to cooperate or protect the airway, high risk of aspiration and an inability to clear respiratory secretions. Conclusions: Bi-level ventilation for ARF due to COPD and CPAP or bi-level bentilation for ARF due to ACPE are feasible, safe and effective also in a General Medical ward if the selection of patients, the staff’s training and the monitoring are appropriate: they improve clinical parameters, arterial blood gases, prevent ETI, decrease mortality and hospitalisation. This should encourage the diffusion of NIV in this specific setting.

Full Text Available Early diagnosis, treatment, investigation and follow up of children with urinary tract infection (UTI are needed to minimize renal scarring. The aims of this study were 1 to evaluate the ability of DMSA scintigraphy, ultrasound and biological parameters in detecting renal parenchymal involvement in children with acute pyelonephritis (APN 2 to assess the relation between renal parenchymal changes and creatinine clearance 3 to determine the incidence of renal scarring after APN."nMaterials and Methods: We prospectively studied 54 children (median age 4.02± 3.41 range 1 month to 12 years with first time symptomaticUTI. All patients had DMSA scan and ultrasonography within 5 days of admission. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR, C-reactive protein (CRP, white blood cell (WBC, was measured at the time of infection, and voiding cystourethrography was performed in all children within 10 days. When scintigraphy showed renal parenchymal changes, repeat DMSA scan was done at least 3 months after initial infection."nResults: Changes on the DMSA scan were found in 93/108 (85.5 percent renal units in 54 children during acute pyelonephritis. Among 42 children who had underwent repeat scintigraphy , renal scars were found in 9 of 16 (56.25 percent renal units in 8 infants under 1 year ,23 of 32 (71.87 percent in 16 children aged 1-5 years, and 33 of 36(91 percent in 18 patients older than 5 years. Ultrasonography showed renal changes in 20 of 108 (18.5 percent kidneys. Reflux was seen in 21 of 108 (19.44 percent renal units. The sensitivity of ESR, CRP, WBC, and ultrasonography was 78.5 percent , 64.5 percent , 69.9 percent , 18.5 percent respectively, and the specificity of them was 40 percent, 33.3 percent, 13.3 percent,"n80 percent respectively. There was a positive correlation between renal parenchymal involvement and creatinine clearance level (p<0.001."nWe found no difference between groups with or without scars with respect to levels of ESR, CRP, and

Full Text Available Guan-qi Fan,1 Kai-li Fu,1 Cheng-wei Jin,1 Xiao-zhen Wang,2 Lu Han,1 Hui Wang,1 Ming Zhong,1 Yun Zhang,1 Wei Zhang,1 Zhi-hao Wang1,3 1Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Remodeling and Function Research, Chinese Ministry of Education and Chinese Ministry of Public Health, Department of Cardiology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, 2Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 3Department of Geriatric Medicine, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Ji’nan, People’s Republic of China Background: Older patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI usually have a poor prognosis, but whether this poor prognosis leads to high hospital costs remains unclear. This study investigated the clinical outcomes of and costs incurred by older patients with AMI and metabolic syndrome (MS in hospital.Methods and results: Patients with AMI seen at Qilu Hospital of Shandong University between January 2011 and May 2013 were separated into four groups: young non-MS patients (n=282, older non-MS patients (n=324, young MS patients (n=217, and older MS patients (n=174. We found that advanced age was significantly associated with worse clinical outcomes, and that the clinical outcomes in patients with AMI and MS are also worsened. At the same cost (RMB¥10,000, older patients with and without MS had a markedly increased number of cardiovascular incidences compared with younger patients without MS. In a comparison of the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER of percutaneous coronary intervention, older patients without MS had a lower ICER for cardiovascular incidences and a higher ICER for cardiac event-free survival rate when compared with young patients without MS, but a lower ICER for cardiovascular incidences and a higher ICER for cardiac event-free survival rate when compared with older MS patients. Conclusion: Older AMI patients have poor clinical outcomes and their treatment is not cost-effective; however, the results are worse in patients with

Background & aims: Malnutrition is a known risk factor for the development of complications in hospitalised patients. We determined whether eating only fractions of the meals served is an independent risk factor for mortality. Methods: The NutritionDay is a multinational one-day cross-sectional surv

Background: There is evidence that persons with an intellectual disability (ID) face barriers to primary care; however, this has not been extensively studied at the population level. Rates of hospitalisation for ambulatory care sensitive conditions are used as an indicator of access to, and quality of, primary care. The objective of the study was…

Full Text Available The current work is the presentation of a new project at the IRCSS San Donato Milanese University hospital, in the sphere of Psychocardiology. Hospitalised children and adolescents often face psychosocial difficulties and the psychological condition of their parents frequently has an impact on their wellbeing. A strong need to take care, beyond the mere cure, is necessary in the hospital settings - that is a need to pay attention also to psychological aspects apart from the medical ones. Art therapy could be an answer for this need: the literature has outlined its efficacy in hospital, also due to the higher inclination of children and adolescents toward creativity. By providing and analysing the drawings of 10 young patients with congenital heart disease (CHD, this study outlines how the art therapy program gives these patients the opportunity to freely and directly express fears and anxieties about medical procedures and their disease. Moreover, through the creation of a tangible product, psychologists can better evaluate the psychological troubles of young patients and provide them and their parents with more focused and personalized support. This study also focuses on the perception of the utility that parents have of this new therapeutic intervention, offered at the Department of Paediatric Cardiac Surgery, confirming that art therapy is perceived as being effective and is definitely a good instrument in helping to “take care” of children and adolescents suffering from CHD.

The medical management of inflammatory bowel disease has changed considerably over time with wider use of immunosuppressant therapy and the introduction of biological therapy. To what extent this change of medical paradigms has influenced and modified the disease course is incompletely known. To address this issue, an extensive review of the literature has been carried out on time trends of hospitalization, surgery, infections, cancer, and mortality rates in inflammatory bowel disease [IBD] patients. Preference was given to population-based studies but, when data from these sources were limited, large cohort studies and randomised controlled trials were also considered. In general, data on hospitalisation rates are strikingly heterogeneous and conflicting. In contrast, the consistent drop in surgery/colectomy rates suggests that the growing use of immunosuppressants and biological agents has had a positive impact on the course of IBD. Most clinical trial data indicate that the risk of serious infections is not increased in patients treated with anti-tumour necrosis factor alpha [TNFα] agents, but a different picture emerges from cohort studies. The use of thiopurines increases the risk for non-melanoma skin cancers and to a lesser extent for lymphoma and cervical cancer [absolute risk: low], whereas no clear increase in the cancer risk has been reported for anti-TNF agents. Finally, the majority of studies reported in the literature do not reveal any increase in mortality with immunosuppressant therapy or biologicals/anti-TNF agents. PMID:26520163

Objectives: To examine the impact of body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference on the risk of hospitalisation with pneumonia. Methods: We followed 49,627 persons from the Danish "Diet, Cancer and Health" study, who were 50-64 yearsold and free of hospital-diagnosed comorbidity at baseline.(1993.......7-1.0) for BMI = 25.0-29.9, 0.8 (0.7-1.1) for BMI = 30.0-34.9, and 1.2 (0.9-1.7) for BMI of 35+. IRRs of pneumonia among men and women in the highest quintile of waist circumference were 1.8 (1.5-2.2) and 1.4 (1.0-1.9), respectively. Conclusion: General and abdominal obesity increased the risk of...

Only a few smaller studies have addressed the effect of psychosocial factors on risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in spite of the potential for psychosocial stress to affect development of the disease through immunological and behavioural pathways. The aim of this study is to...... determine the relation between various psychosocial risk factors, individually and accumulated, and COPD hospitalisation and deaths. A total of 8728 women and men free of asthma and COPD participating in the Copenhagen City Heart Study, were asked comprehensive questions on major life events, work...... hardship or had a dysfunctional social network. Furthermore, the accumulation of psychosocial risk factors was associated with a higher risk of COPD in both women (HR = 2.40, 1.78-3.22) and men (HR = 1.93, 1.33-2.80). Psychosocial vulnerability may be important to consider both in clinical practice and...

Antibiotic resistance genes are rapidly spread between pathogens and the normal flora, with plasmids playing an important role in their circulation. This study aimed to investigate antibiotic resistance plasmids in the gut microbiome of hospitalised patients. Stool samples were collected from seven...... inpatients at Siriraj Hospital (Bangkok, Thailand) and were compared with a sample from a healthy volunteer. Plasmids from the gut microbiomes extracted from the stool samples were subjected to high-throughput DNA sequencing (GS Junior). Newbler-assembled DNA reads were categorised into known and unknown...... sequences (using >80% alignment length as the cut-off), and ResFinder was used to classify the antibiotic resistance gene pools. Plasmid replicon modules were used for plasmid typing. Forty-six genes conferring resistance to several classes of antibiotics were identified in the stool samples. Several...

A radioimmunoassay for antibody to Candida albicans is described. The test uses whole, killed of organisms as the antigen and radiolabelled sheep anti-human globulins to quantitate different classes of antibody to C. albicans. The assay has been compared with an Ouchterlony precipitin method and found to be simpler, more rapid, and more sensitive than the latter. Results obtained from two groups of symptomless adults indicated that the range of antibody level was wider for a hospitalised group than for a group of blood transfusion donors, particularly in respect of IgG and IgA antibody. The reason for the increase of antibody in hospital patients was not clear but may have been related to antibiotic therapy. The difficulties in interpretation of Candida serology have therefore been re-assessed in the light of more detailed knowledge of the range and type of antibody to be expected in normal individuals. (author)

Objectives The degree to which treatment with tumour necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists may be associated with increased risks for serious infections is unclear. An observational cohort study was performed using prospectively collected data from the Swedish Biologics Register (ARTIS) and other national Swedish registers. Methods First, in the ARTIS, all 4167 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients starting TNF antagonist treatment between 1999 and 2003 were identified. Secondly, in the Swedish Inpatient Register, all individuals hospitalised for any reason and who also carried a diagnosis of RA, between 1964 and 2003 (n = 44 946 of whom 2692 also occurred in ARTIS), were identified. Thirdly, in the Swedish Inpatient Register, all hospitalisations listing an infection between 1999 and 2003 were identified. By cross‐referencing these three data sets, RRs for hospitalisation with infection associated with TNF antagonist treatment were calculated within the cohort of 44 946 RA patients, using Cox regression taking sex, age, geography, co‐morbidity and use of inpatient care into account. Results Among the 4167 patients treated with TNF antagonists, 367 hospitalisations with infections occurred during 7776 person‐years. Within the cohort of 44 496 RA patients, the RR for infection associated with TNF antagonists was 1.43 (95% CI 1.18 to 1.73) during the first year of treatment, 1.15 (95% CI 0.88 to 1.51) during the second year of treatment, and 0.82 (95% CI 0.62 to 1.08) for subjects remaining on their first TNF antagonist treatment after 2 years. Conclusion Treatment with TNF antagonists may be associated with a small to moderate increase in risk of hospitalisation with infection, which disappears with increasing treatment duration. PMID:17261532

Background The present study investigated the prognostic value of medical comorbidities at admission for 30-day in-hospital mortality in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Methods A total of 5161 patients with AMI were admitted in Chinese PLA General Hospital between January 1. 1993 and December 31, 2007. Medical comorbidities including hypertension, diabetes mellitus,previous myocardial infarction, valvular heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), renal insufficiency, previous stroke,atrial fibrillation and anemia, were identified at admission. The patients were divided into 4 groups based on the number of medical comorbidities at admission (0, 1, 2, and ≥ 3). Cox regression analysis was used to calculate relative risk (RR) and 95％ confidence intervals (CI), with adjustment for age, sex, heart failure and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Results The mean age of the studied population was 63.9 ± 13.6 years, and 80.1％ of the patients were male. In 74.6％ of the patients at least one comorbidity were identified.Hypertension (50.7％), diabetes mellitus (24.0％) and previous myocardial infarction (12％) were the leading common comorbidities at admission. The 30-day in-hospital mortality in patients with 0, I, 2, and ≥ 3 comorbidities at admission (7.2％) was 4.9％, 7.2％, 11.1％, and 20.3％, respectively. The presence of 2 or more comorbidities was associated with higher 30-day in-hospital mortality compared with patients without comorbidity (RR: 1.41, 95％ CI: 1.13-1.77, P = 0.003, and RR: 1.95, 95％ CI: 1.59-2.39, P = 0.000, respectively).Conclusions Medical comorbidities were frequently found in patients with AMI. AMI patients with more comorbidities had a higher 30-day in-hospital mortality might be predictive of early poor outcome in patients with AMI.J Geriatr Cardiol2011; 8: 31-34. doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1263.2011.00031

AIM: To investigate whether recent socio-demographic changes and recent health and safety measures have impacted on the trends of ocular trauma in the South East of Ireland. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed all cases of ocular trauma admitted to our department between October 2001 and September 2007, and the following data were retrieved: demographic details; mechanism of injury and nature of injury. RESULTS: During the study period, 517 patients were admitted with ocular trauma. Work-related and home-related activities were the commonest causes of admission, and accounted for 160 (31.8%) and 145 (28.4%) cases, respectively. In 2006\\/2007, and following the influx of migrant workers from the 10 new EU accession states (EUAS), the incidence of hospitalised ocular injuries per 100,000 was 89 in persons from the EUAS versus 18 in those of Irish origin, P < or = 0.0001. After adding the offence of not wearing a seat belt to the traffic penalty point system in Ireland, the proportion of road traffic accident (RTA)-related ocular injuries dropped significantly from 6.7% to 2.4%, P=0.03. CONCLUSION: The inclusion of the offence of not wearing a seat belt in the traffic penalty point system may have contributed to the significantly lower proportion of hospitalised ocular injuries attributable to RTAs. Also, the demographic profile of patients admitted because of ocular trauma has changed over the last 6 years, reflected in an increasing proportion of these injuries in persons from the EUAS. These data will inform healthcare providers, and those involved in developing health and safety guidelines for the workplace.

Full Text Available Abstract Background There is evidence that low back pain (LBP during young adulthood and military service predicts LBP later in life. The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence and trends of LBP hospitalisation among Finnish military conscripts. Methods All male conscripts performing their compulsory military service during 1990–2002 were included in the study population. Altogether 387,070 military conscripts were followed throughout their six-to-twelve-month service period. Data on LBP hospitalisations were obtained from the National Hospital Discharge Register. Results Altogether 7,240 LBP hospitalisations were identified among 5,061 (1.3% male conscripts during the study period. The event-based incidence of LBP hospitalisation was 27.0 (95% confidence interval (CI: 25.7–28.2. In most cases, the diagnosis was unspecified LBP (n = 5,141, 71% followed by lumbar disc disorders (n = 2,069, 29%. Hospitalisation incidence due to unspecified LBP was 19.1 per 1,000 person-years (95% CI: 18.3 to 20.4, and 7.8 per 1,000 person-years (95% CI: 6.7 to 8.3 due to lumbar disc disorders. The incidence of unspecified LBP remained unaltered, while hospitalisation due to lumbar disc disorders declined from 1993 onwards. Conclusion Although conscripts accepted into military training pass physician-performed examinations as healthy, young adults, LBP hospitalisation causes significant morbidity during military service.

Full Text Available Abstract Background Patients with delirium and dementia admitted to general hospitals have poor outcomes, and their carers report poor experiences. We developed an acute geriatric medical ward into a specialist Medical and Mental Health Unit over an eighteen month period. Additional specialist mental health staff were employed, other staff were trained in the 'person-centred' dementia care approach, a programme of meaningful activity was devised, the environment adapted to the needs of people with cognitive impairment, and attention given to communication with family carers. We hypothesise that patients managed on this ward will have better outcomes than those receiving standard care, and that such care will be cost-effective. Methods/design We will perform a controlled clinical trial comparing in-patient management on a specialist Medical and Mental Health Unit with standard care. Study participants are patients over the age of 65, admitted as an emergency to a single general hospital, and identified on the AcuteMedical Admissions Unit as being 'confused'. Sample size is 300 per group. The evaluation design has been adapted to accommodate pressures on bed management and patient flows. If beds are available on the specialist Unit, the clinical service allocates patients at random between the Unit and standard care on general or geriatric medical wards. Once admitted, randomised patients and their carers are invited to take part in a follow up study, and baseline data are collected. Quality of care and patient experience are assessed in a non-participant observer study. Outcomes are ascertained at a follow up home visit 90 days after randomisation, by a researcher blind to allocation. The primary outcome is days spent at home (for those admitted from home, or days spent in the same care home (if admitted from a care home. Secondary outcomes include mortality, institutionalisation, resource use, and scaled outcome measures, including quality of

Prehospital triage of cardiac patients for bypass from community hospitals to cardiac centers may improve survival. This article determines if electrocardiogram (ECG)-based scoring triage methods (Aldrich MI scoring, QRS distortion, and the TIMI classification) and location of infarct (via 12 lead ECG) are associated with mortality before and after adjusting for age, sex, and race. It is a retrospective study of 291 AMI adult patients transported by ambulance to community hospitals or cardiac centers. Patients with an ED chief complaint of chest pain or dyspnea, presence of MI as defined by ECG findings of 0.1 mV of ST segment elevation in two leads or positive CPK-MB were eligible for the study. The primary outcome variable was 2-year mortality as determined with a metropolitan Detroit tri-county death index. Logistic regression was used to calculate the unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios (with 95% CIs) of the predictor variables with mortality. Of the initial population selected for the study (n = 291), 229 patients were eligible for the analysis. The mean age was 66 years (SD of 14.4) with 63.8% being male and 54% being white. The overall mortality point estimate was 21.3% (95% CI of 15.2 to 27.3%). Aldrich scores and QRS distortion (yes/no) were not associated with mortality. Patients classified as a "high risk" for AMI per TIMI status were almost 3 times more likely to die than those at "low risk" and reached borderline statistical significance (P = .06) after adjusting for the covariates. Having an anterior infarct, as opposed to an inferior infarct, was significantly associated with death before and after adjusting for the covariates (Unadjusted OR = 2.6, Adjusted OR = 2.8). Properly training emergency medical system professionals in this area may prove useful for identifying higher risk AMI patients in the prehospital setting. PMID:11265729

textabstractObjective: Heart failure patients are regularly admitted to hospital and frequently use multiple medication. Besides intentional changes in pharmacotherapy, unintentional changes may occur during hospitalisation. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a clinical pharmacis

Full Text Available Acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis (AGEP is a rare reaction pattern with a typical morphology and a short clinical course that in majority of cases is related to medication administration. It is an acute pustular eruption with unique clinical features, a rapid clinical course and a typical histopathology. Herein, we report the case of a patient with acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis for its classical presentation.

BACKGROUND: fragmented healthcare systems are poorly suited to treat the increasing number of older patients with multimorbidity. OBJECTIVE: to report on the development, implementation and evaluation of a regional transitional care programme, aimed at improving the recovery rate of frail...... hospitalised older patients. METHODS: the programme was drafted in co-creation with organisations representing older adults, care providers and knowledge institutes. Conducting an action research project, the incidence of adverse outcomes within 3 months after hospital admission, and long-term care expenses...... (LTCE) were compared between samples in 2010-11 (pre-programme) and 2012-13 (post-programme) in frail and non-frail patients. Hospitalised patients aged ≥70 years were included in four hospitals in the targeted region. RESULTS: developed innovations addressed (i) improved risk management; (ii) delivery...

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and diabetes (DM) are two interrelated conditions that have a heavy morbidity and mortality burden worldwide. Patients with the two conditions usually take multiple medicines and thus are more susceptible to medicine-related problems (MRPs). MRPs can occur at any stage of the treatment process and in many cases can lead to unplanned hospitalisations. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of hospitalisation resulting from MRPs in adult patients wit...

Abstract Background Otitis media (OM) is a very common condition in children and occurs during years that are critical to the development of learning, literacy, and math skills. Therefore, among a large cohort of Danish conscripts, we aimed to examine the association between hospitalisation with OM in early childhood and cognitive function and educational level in early adulthood. Methods We conducted a population-based prevalence study using linked data from healthcare databases and conscrip...

BACKGROUND: This study compares the effects of different cognitive tasks on post-meal negative affect, positive affect, intrusive thoughts and intrusive images of hospitalised patients with eating disorders. METHODS: Twenty-five participants were recruited from an eating disorder service. Using a within-subjects design, participants performed one of the following tasks for 15 min: the game 'Tetris' (visuospatial), a general knowledge 'Quiz' (verbal), 'Braille' translation (somatic) and 'Sitti...

Abstract Background Undernutrition is common in older hospitalised patients, and routine screening is advocated. It is unclear whether screening tools such as the Birmingham Nutrition Risk (BNR) score and the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) can successfully predict outcome in this patient group. Methods Consecutive admissions to Medicine for the Elderly assessment wards in Dundee were assessed between mid-October 2003 and mid-January 2004. Body Mass Index (BMI), MUST and BNR scor...

Police reports indicate an increasing burden of electric bike (E-bike) casualties in China; however, hospitalised injury data have not been reported. The aim of the present work was to describe hospitalised injury patterns for E-bikers involved in road crashes and explore injury risk disparities among them. For the period October 2010 to April 2011, this cross-sectional study retrospectively collected information for hospitalised E-bikers involved in road crashes from hospital records, in Suzhou China, using the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10) injury diagnosis codes. Injury nature and body region were further categorised using ICD-10 codes. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the risk of specific injury types. We found that hospitalised E-biker injuries (n=323) accounted for 57.2% of road traffic hospitalisations over the 6-month study period. The average age, length of stay and hospitalisation cost were 43.8 years, 10.0 days and ¥8229 (US$1286), respectively. Fractures and head injuries were common. The odds of traumatic brain injuries were significantly elevated for night-time E-bike crashes and incidents other than colliding with motor vehicles. These findings confirm E-bike injuries as an important population health problem and identify elevated injury odds in different E-biker groups. Future injury prevention initiatives should include encouraging helmet use among E-bikers. PMID:23728530

In 2006, Belgium was the first country in the European Union to recommend rotavirus vaccination in the routine infant vaccination schedule and rapidly achieved high vaccine uptake (86-89% in 2007). We used regional and national data sources up to 7 years post-vaccination to study the impact of vaccination on laboratory-confirmed rotavirus cases and rotavirus-related hospitalisations and deaths. We showed that (i) from 2007 until 2013, vaccination coverage remained at 79-88% for a complete course, (ii) in children 0-2 years, rotavirus cases decreased by 79% (95% confidence intervals (CI): 68--89%) in 2008-2014 compared to the pre-vaccination period (1999--2006) and by 50% (95% CI: 14-82%) in the age group ≥ 10 years, (iii) hospitalisations for rotavirus gastroenteritis decreased by 87% (95% CI: 84-90%) in 2008--2012 compared to the pre-vaccination period (2002--2006), (iv) median age of rotavirus cases increased from 12 months to 17 months and (v) the rotavirus seasonal peak was reduced and delayed in all post-vaccination years. The substantial decline in rotavirus gastroenteritis requiring hospitalisations and in rotavirus activity following introduction of rotavirus vaccination is sustained over time and more pronounced in the target age group, but with evidence of herd immunity. PMID:27418466

Lipids used in parenteral nutrition provide energy, building blocks and essential fatty acids. Traditionally, these lipids have been based on n-6 PUFA-rich vegetable oils particularly soyabean oil. This may not be optimal because soyabean oil may present an excessive supply of linoleic acid. Alternatives to use of soyabean oil include its partial replacement by medium-chain TAG, olive oil or fish oil, either alone or in combination. Lipid emulsions containing these alternatives are well tolerated without adverse effects in a wide range of hospitalised adult patients. Lipid emulsions that include fish oil have been used in parenteral nutrition in adult patients' post-surgery (mainly gastrointestinal). This has been associated with alterations in patterns of inflammatory mediators and in immune function and, in some studies, a reduction in length of intensive care unit and hospital stay. These benefits are emphasised through recent meta-analyses. Perioperative administration of fish oil may be superior to post-operative administration. Parenteral fish oil has been used in critically ill adults. Here, the influence on inflammatory processes, immune function and clinical endpoints is not clear, since there are too few studies and those that are available report contradictory findings. However, some studies found reduced inflammation, improved gas exchange and shorter length of hospital stay in critically ill patients if they receive fish oil. More and better trials are needed in patient groups in which parenteral nutrition is used and where fish oil may offer benefits. PMID:23663322

Background Gram negative infection is a major determinant of morbidity and survival. Traditional teaching suggests that burn wound infections in different centres are caused by differing sets of causative organisms. This study established whether Gram-negative burn wound isolates associated to clinical wound infection differ between burn centres. Methods Studies investigating adult hospitalised patients (2000–2010) were critically appraised and qualified to a levels of evidence hierarchy. The contribution of bacterial pathogen type, and burn centre to the variance in standardised incidence of Gram-negative burn wound infection was analysed using two-way analysis of variance. Primary Findings Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumanni, Enterobacter spp., Proteus spp. and Escherichia coli emerged as the commonest Gram-negative burn wound pathogens. Individual pathogens’ incidence did not differ significantly between burn centres (F (4, 20) = 1.1, p = 0.3797; r2 = 9.84). Interpretation Gram-negative infections predominate in burn surgery. This study is the first to establish that burn wound infections do not differ significantly between burn centres. It is the first study to report the pathogens responsible for the majority of Gram-negative infections in these patients. Whilst burn wound infection is not exclusive to these bacteria, it is hoped that reporting the presence of this group of common Gram-negative “target organisms” facilitate clinical practice and target research towards a defined clinical demand. PMID:24751699

with more active treatment of the recent cohorts of old-aged persons and reduced age inequalities in the Danish healthcare system. No increase in post-operative mortality suggests that the selection of older patients eligible for a surgical treatment is likely to be based on the health status of old......Objective: to examine whether the Danish 1905 cohort members had more active hospital treatment than the 1895 cohort members from ages 85 to 99 years and whether it results in higher in-hospital and post-operative mortality. Methods: in the present register-based follow-up study the complete Danish...... birth cohorts born in 1895 (n = 12,326) and 1905 (n = 15,477) alive and residing in Denmark at the age of 85 were followed from ages 85 to 99 years with regard to hospitalisations and all-cause and cause-specific surgical procedures, as well as in-hospital and post-operative mortality. Results: the 1905...

This case report describes a 72-year-old woman who developed an acute postmyocardial infarction ventricular septal defect (VSD) with consequent cardiogenic shock. Intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) counter-pulsation was urgently initiated in the cardiac catheterisation laboratory, with neither clinical nor haemodynamic improvement, prompting immediate removal of the IABP and the insertion of an Impella 2.5 heart pump (AbioMed Inc; Danvers, Massachusetts, USA), a temporary ventricular assist device. Thereafter, the patient improved clinically and was admitted to the cardiovascular intensive care unit (ICU). While in the cardiovascular ICU, the patient developed worsening mechanical haemolysis of blood cells, stable but persistent cardiogenic shock and a transient ischaemic attack. A consensus decision was made to proceed with percutaneous repair of the VSD as she was deemed at high risk for surgical repair. She underwent successful percutaneous VSD repair on day 4 of hospitalisation, using a single 18 mm Amplatzer muscular VSD occluder (AGA Medical, Plymouth, Minnesota, USA) with trace residual flow across the occluder. Adequate systolic blood pressure and cardiac output was maintained postprocedure with the Impella 2.5 device. The patient, however, succumbed to multiorgan dysfunction occasioned by sepsis. PMID:27030453

Full Text Available The aim of the present study was to define the prevalence, characteristics, risk factors and impact on clinical outcomes of acute myocardial infarction (AMI versus other cardiovascular events (CVEs in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP. This was an international, multicentre, observational, prospective study of CAP patients hospitalised in eight hospitals in Italy and Switzerland. Three groups were identified: those without CVEs, those with AMI and those with other CVEs. Among 905 patients, 21 (2.3% patients experienced at least one AMI, while 107 (11.7% patients experienced at least one other CVE. Patients with CAP and either AMI or other CVEs showed a higher severity of the disease than patients with CAP alone. Female sex, liver disease and the presence of severe sepsis were independent predictors for the occurrence of AMI, while female sex, age >65 years, neurological disease and the presence of pleural effusion predicted other CVEs. In-hospital mortality was significantly higher among those who experienced AMI in comparison to those experiencing other CVEs (43% versus 21%, p=0.039. The presence of AMI showed an adjusted odds ratio for in-hospital mortality of 3.57 (p=0.012 and for other CVEs of 2.63 (p=0.002. These findings on AMI versus other CVEs as complications of CAP may be important when planning interventional studies on cardioprotective medications.

The aim of the present study is, to describe the morbidity and mortality of 196 patients with an acute abdominal condition who underwent surgery at the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics of the TU Munich between 1982 and 1986. This is a percentage of 2.7 of all 7,167 operations carried out during this period. 118 of these patients had an extrauterine pregnancy and were therefore excluded from the study. The second group of 79 patients, mostly with inflammatory diseases, were analyzed. In most of these cases the acute abdominal condition was caused by a tuboovarian abscess (48.1%), followed by peritonitis because of a bowel-disease (11.4%). 6 patients suffered from an abscessing endometritis due to a caesarean section with sepsis in 5 cases. A generalized peritonitis occurred in 5 cases and was treated with a planned relaparatomy with lavage. 63% of the patients had no complications within 28 days after operation, 13% developed a subileus; in 7% a relaparatomy was necessary. 6% of the patients had problems of wound-healing. One patient with stomach-cancer died 3 weeks after the operation because of a fulminant lung-embolism. Thus the mortality rate was 1.5%. A further 27% were treated at the intensive care-unit and 18% needed artificial respiration. The average postoperative period of hospitalisation was 15 days. In comparison, patients with elective operations remained 13 days. The morbidity and mortality of patients due to surgery of an acute abdominal condition was relatively small; postoperative complications could be well treated in all cases and is probably the result of a positive and early indication for surgical intervention. PMID:3181709

Aim To affirm experience of acute stress event and strategy of facing stress within trauma patients, so that, nurse/technician in their further work could help overcome mentioned event and it's intensity, with help of their intercession and experience.Methods The Impact of Event Scale – Revised (IES-R), also with sociodemographic questionnaire were used as an instrument of measuring. The research has been conducted on 100 examinees which were hospitalisated at Clinical section of traumatolo...

textabstractObjective: Heart failure patients are regularly admitted to hospital and frequently use multiple medication. Besides intentional changes in pharmacotherapy, unintentional changes may occur during hospitalisation. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a clinical pharmacist discharge service on medication discrepancies and prescription errors in patients with heart failure. Setting: A general teaching hospital in Tilburg, the Netherlands. Method: An open randomized ...

textabstractAcute pancreatitis is an inflammatory disease of the pancreas with sudden onset. The severity of acute pancreatitis may vary from mild to life threatening. There are many risk factors for acute pancreatitis, among which gallstones and alcohol abuse are most widely known. Drugs are considered as potential risk factors for acute pancreatitis, but have received relatively little attention in the medical literature. In this thesis, several epidemiological studies were performed to ass...

Background No formal definition for the “complex elderly” exists; moreover, these older patients with high levels of multi-morbidity are not readily identified as such at point of hospitalisation, thus missing a valuable opportunity to manage the older patient appropriately within the hospital setting. Objectives To empirically identify the complex elderly patient based on degree of multi-morbidity. Design Retrospective observational study using administrative data. Setting English hospitals during the financial year 2012–13. Subjects All admitted patients aged 65 years and over. Methods By using exploratory analysis (correspondence analysis) we identify multi-morbidity groups based on 20 target conditions whose hospital prevalence was ≥ 1%. Results We examined a total of 2788900 hospital admissions. Multi-morbidity was highly prevalent, 62.8% had 2 or more of the targeted conditions while 4.7% had six or more. Multi-morbidity increased with age from 56% (65-69yr age-groups) up to 67% (80-84yr age-group). The average multi-morbidity was 3.2±1.2 (SD). Correspondence analysis revealed 3 distinct groups of older patients. Group 1 (multi-morbidity ≤2), associated with cancer and/or metastasis; Group 2 (multi-morbidity of 3, 4 or 5), associated with chronic pulmonary disease, lung disease, rheumatism and osteoporosis; finally Group 3 with the highest level of multi-morbidity (≥6) and associated with heart failure, cerebrovascular accident, diabetes, hypertension and myocardial infarction. Conclusions By using widely available hospital administrative data, we propose patients in Groups 2 and 3 to be identified as the complex elderly. Identification of multi-morbidity patterns can help to predict the needs of the older patient and improve resource provision. PMID:26716440

Antibiotic resistance genes are rapidly spread between pathogens and the normal flora, with plasmids playing an important role in their circulation. This study aimed to investigate antibiotic resistance plasmids in the gut microbiome of hospitalised patients. Stool samples were collected from seven inpatients at Siriraj Hospital (Bangkok, Thailand) and were compared with a sample from a healthy volunteer. Plasmids from the gut microbiomes extracted from the stool samples were subjected to high-throughput DNA sequencing (GS Junior). Newbler-assembled DNA reads were categorised into known and unknown sequences (using >80% alignment length as the cut-off), and ResFinder was used to classify the antibiotic resistance gene pools. Plasmid replicon modules were used for plasmid typing. Forty-six genes conferring resistance to several classes of antibiotics were identified in the stool samples. Several antibiotic resistance genes were shared by the patients; interestingly, most were reported previously in food animals and healthy humans. Four antibiotic resistance genes were found in the healthy subject. One gene (aph3-III) was identified in the patients and the healthy subject and was related to that in cattle. Uncommon genes of hospital origin such as blaTEM-124-like and fosA, which confer resistance to extended-spectrum β-lactams and fosfomycin, respectively, were identified. The resistance genes did not match the patients' drug treatments. In conclusion, several plasmid types were identified in the gut microbiome; however, it was difficult to link these to the antibiotic resistance genes identified. That the antibiotic resistance genes came from hospital and community environments is worrying. PMID:27530840

textabstractBackground. Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is a leading cause of mortality in patients with acute leukemia. Management of IA is expensive, which makes prevention desirable. Because hospital resources are limited, prevention costs have to be compared with treatment costs and outcome. Methods. In 269 patients treated for acute myelogenous leukemia-myelodysplastic syndrome (AML-MDS) during 2002-2007, evidence of IA was collected using high-resolution computed tomography and galactomanna...

A prospective study was performed in 59 patients with acute pancreatitis to find out the value of computed tomography for an early prognosis. CT findings (retroperitoneal fluid collections with enlargement of the retroperitoneal space, intraperitoneal air-fluid levels and ascites), clinical (age, ileus) and laboratory tests (LDH, blood glucose, urea, creatinine and calcium) were taken into consideration. These data were collected during the first two days after hospitalisation and turned out to be of considerable prognostic value: about 70% of the patients died when 5 or more of these pathological findings exist. More than 90% of all patients who died belonged to this group.

Full Text Available Purpose: To explore how the implementation of the concept ‘Home hospitalisation of heart patients’ by means of telehomecare technology influences the integration of clinical tasks across healthcare sectors. Theory: Inter-organisational theory. Methods: The case study approach was applied. Triangulations of data collection techniques were used: documentary materials, participant observation, qualitative and focus group interviews. Results: The clinical decision-making and task solving became multidisciplinary and integrated with the implementation of telehomecare and, therefore, complex in terms of the prescription and adjustment of patient medicine. Workflows between healthcare professionals across sectors changed from sequential to collective client flows. Pre-existing procedures for patient care, treatment, and responsibility were challenged. In addition, the number of tasks for the district nurses increased. Integration in the clinical task-solving area increases fragmentation in the knowledge technologies in a network perspective. Conclusions: Implementing the concept of ‘Home hospitalisation of heart patients’ by means of telehomecare technology will result in a more integrated clinical task-solving process that involves healthcare professionals from various sectors. Overall, the integration of clinical tasks between hospital and district nursing will result in a direct benefit for the heart patients.

Full Text Available The composition of the upper respiratory tract microbiome may play an important role in the development of lower respiratory tract infections. Here, we characterised the microbiome of the nasopharynx and oropharynx of hospitalised patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP with unknown aetiology in an attempt to obtain insight into the aetiology of CAP. A random sample of 10 patients hospitalised with CAP previously enrolled in a separate clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov registry, Study ID: NCT01248715 in which a complete microbiological workup was not able to define an aetiology were analysed in this pilot study. This larger trial (n = 1,221 enrolled patients from 9 adult hospitals in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs were obtained for metagenomic analysis. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR for Streptococcus pneumoniae was performed in all patients. One patient had a distinct nasophararyngeal microbiome consisting largely of Haemophilus influenzae. This was the only patient with a negative PCR for S. pneumoniae in both nasophararyngeal and oropharyngeal specimens. Overall, substantial differences were found between nasophararyngeal and oropharyngeal microbiomes. The upper respiratory tract microbiome of only one patient suggested H. influenzae as a probable aetiology of CAP. Although this was a pilot study of only 10 patients, the presence of S. pneumoniae in the upper respiratory tract of the other 9 patients warrants further investigation.

Full Text Available Abstract Background Literature on the spectrum of opportunistic disease in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-infected patients from developing countries is sparse. The objective of this study was to document the spectrum and determine the frequency of various opportunistic infections (OIs and non-infectious opportunistic diseases, in hospitalised HIV-infected patients from north India. Methods One hundred and thirty five consecutive, HIV-infected patients (age 34 ± 10 years, females 17% admitted to a tertiary care hospital in north India, for the evaluation and management of an OI or HIV-related disorder between January 2000 and July 2003, were studied. Results Fever (71% and weight loss (65% were the commonest presenting symptoms. Heterosexual transmission was the commonest mode of HIV-acquisition. Tuberculosis (TB was the commonest OI (71% followed by candidiasis (39.3%, Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (PCP (7.4%, cryptococcal meningitis and cerebral toxoplasmosis (3.7% each. Most of the cases of TB were disseminated (64%. Apart from other well-recognised OIs, two patients had visceral leishmaniasis. Two cases of HIV-associated lymphoma were encountered. CD4+ cell counts were done in 109 patients. Majority of the patients (82.6% had CD4+ counts Conclusions A wide spectrum of disease, including both OIs and non-infectious opportunistic diseases, is seen in hospitalised HIV-infected patients from north India. Tuberculosis remains the most common OI and is the commonest cause of death in these patients.

Full Text Available There is no specific treatment for acute pancreatitis. Majority of patients with acute pancreatitis respond to medical therapy. Supportive measures and close observations represent the cornerstone of the medical therapy. Failure to respond to medical treatment may indicate choledocholithiasis or infected necrosis. Endoscopic papillotomy with stone retrieval is beneficial in patients with severe biliary pancreatitis. Image-guided fine needle aspiration and bacteriological examination of aspirate is reliable in detecting infection and deliniating causative pathogen. Surgical debridement is the method of choice for treatment of infected necrosis. In contrast, in pancreatic abscess, surgery is preserved for those, who do not respond to percutaneous drainage combined with antibiotics. The benefit of antisecretory and antiproteolytic agents is debatable. A combination of antioxidants, calcium channel antagonists and antibiotics may play a major role in the treatment of acute pancreatitis in the future.

INTRODUCTION: Stone management is often conservative due to a high spontaneous stone passage rate or non-symptomatic calyceal stones that do not necessarily require active treatment. However, stone disease may cause symptoms and complications requiring urgent intervention. MATERIAL AND METHODS......: In this review, we update latest research and current recommendations regarding acute management of stones, with particular focus on imaging, pain management, active stone interventions, medical expulsive therapy, and urolithiasis in pregnancy and childhood. RESULTS: Acute stone management should be planned...

BACKGROUND: Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) accounts for two million deaths worldwide annually. In those hospitalised with SAM, concomitant infections and diarrhoea are frequent complications resulting in adverse outcome. We examined the clinical and laboratory features on admission and outcome of children with SAM and diarrhoea at a Kenyan district hospital. METHODS: A 4-year prospective descriptive study involving 1,206 children aged 6 months to 12 years, hospitalized with SAM and managed i...

The overall aim of this thesis was to describe patients’ and spouses’ experiences of suspected acute myocardial infarction in the pre-hospital phase. A descriptive survey study was conducted to identify various factors influencing patient delay in 381 patients with suspected myocardial infarction hospitalised at a Coronary Care Unit (I) and ambulance utilisation among 110 myocardial infarction patients (II). In order to obtain a deeper understanding of the myocardial infarction patients’ own ...

The second part of this paper provides those who care for orthopaedic patients with evidence-supported international perspectives about acute nursing care of the older adult with fragility hip fracture. Developed by an international group of nurse experts and guided by a range of information from research and clinical practice, it focuses on nurse sensitive quality indicators during the acutehospitalisation for fragility hip fracture. Optimal care for the patient who has experienced such a fracture is the focus. This includes (in the first, earlier, part):\\r\

Full Text Available Introduction: Acute hepatitis C virus (HCV infection has emerged as a major cause of morbidity in the HIV-infected population. Most guidelines recommend early treatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin due to higher cure rates. The impact of acute HCV and its treatment on the outcome of the HIV-infected population is unknown. With new treatment options for HCV, early treatment of acute HCV has to be questioned. Here, we report a long-term analysis on patients with acute HCV. Methods: Retrospective analysis from an outpatient clinic from Berlin. All patients with the diagnosis of acute HCV according to The European AIDS Treatment Network (NEAT criteria were included in the database at their date of HCV diagnosis and followed-up until the last medical contact. Demographic data was taken from the medical file. A fibrosis estimation was performed using transient elastography (Fibroscan(®. A Fibroscan value above 7 kPa was considered as significant fibrosis, above 12.4 kPa as liver cirrhosis. The following outcomes were documented: (a liver-related: hepatic decompensation, cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma. (b non-liver-related: death, myocardial infarction, AIDS-defining event, psychiatric hospitalisation. Results: A total of 207 cases of acute HCV infection in HIV-infected patients were diagnosed between May 2002 and September 2013. All patients were male and declared homosexual contacts as their risk factor for having acquired HIV. The mean age was 39 years, 162 patients (78% were on antiretroviral treatment, and the median CD4 cell count was 593/mm3 (IQR 443–749. At HCV diagnosis, the highest median alanine aminotransferase (ALT level was 408 IU/mL (159–871, the HCV viral load was 800,000 IU/mL (45x103–2.8x106. 22 cases (11% cleared their infection spontaneously, 161 (77% underwent interferon-based treatment. Of those treated, 58% had a sustained virological response. 36 cases of HCV reinfection were documented. All patients were

The medication history among hospitalized patients often relies on patients' self-reports due to insufficient communication between health care professionals. The aim of the present study was to estimate the reliability of patients' self-reported medication use. Five hundred patients admitted to an...... were compared to the patients' self-reported medication history. Information on prescribed drugs dispensed from any Danish pharmacy was collected from nationwide real-time pharmacy records. The authors performed home visits in a subgroup of 115 patients 4 weeks after their discharge. Stored drugs were...... inspected, and patients were interviewed about their drug use. Additional blood samples were drawn for drug analysis. The median age of included patients was 72 years, and 298 patients (60%) were women. Patients reported use of 3 (median) prescription-only medications (range, 0-14) during the structured...

This article is the final part of the formal description of the metaontology for medical diagnostics in the language of applied logic. It contains a description of the causes of signs’ values and of the causes of diseases.

OBJECTIVE: To study the initiation of and long-term refill persistency with statins and beta-blockers after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) according to income and education. DESIGN AND SETTING: Linkage of individuals through national registers of hospitalisations, drug dispensation, income and...... education. PARTICIPANTS: 30 078 patients aged 30-74 years surviving first hospitalisation for AMI in Denmark between 1995 and 2001. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Initiation of statin or beta-blocker treatment (out-patient claim of prescriptions within 6 months of discharge) and refill persistency (first break in...... treatment lasting at least 90 days, and re-initiation of treatment after a break). RESULTS: When simultaneously estimating the effect of income and education on initiation of treatment, the effect of education attenuated and a clear income gradient remained for both drugs. Among patients aged 30-64 years...

Investigators at Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, China, reviewed children diagnosed with acute transverse myelitis (ATM) between 1995 and 2008 and selected 39 patients diagnosed according to the new Johns Hopkins Consortium criteria.

Myocarditis is defined as inflammation of the myocardium accompanied by myocellular necrosis. Acute myocarditis must be considered in patients who present with recent onset of cardiac failure or arrhythmia. Fulminant myocarditis is a distinct entity characterized by sudden onset of severe congestive heart failure or cardiogenic shock, usually following a flu-like illness, parvovirus B19, human herpesvirus 6, coxsackievirus and adenovirus being the most frequently viruses responsible for the disease. Treatment of myocarditis remains largely supportive, since immunosuppression has not been proven to be beneficial for acute lymphocytic myocarditis. Trials of antiviral therapies, or immunostimulants such as interferons, suggest a potential therapeutic role but require further investigation. Lastly, early recognition of patients rapidly progressing to refractory cardiac failure and their immediate transfer to a medical-surgical center experienced in mechanical circulatory support is warranted. In this setting, ECMO should be the first-line mechanical assistance. For highly unstable patients, a Mobile Cardiac Assistance Unit, that rapidly travels to primary care hospitals with a portable ECMO system and hooks it up before refractory multiorgan failure takes hold, is the preferred option. PMID:23789482

... of bronchitis: acute and chronic. Most cases of acute bronchitis get better within several days. But your cough ... that cause colds and the flu often cause acute bronchitis. These viruses spread through the air when people ...

Glaucoma is a common eye condition that affects millions of individuals worldwide, making it the second-leading cause of blindness. Because glaucoma is associated with increased IOP level, the primary goal in treatment of glaucoma includes lowering IOP to prevent further progression of the disease. While various surgical interventions exist, medical therapy is currently the first line of treatment. Medical treatment of glaucoma includes topical beta-blockers, alpha-2 agonists, prostaglandins, parasympathomimetics and CAIs. Anti-glaucoma agents help reduce IOP by affecting the production of aqueous humor or increasing the outflow of aqueous through the trabecular or uveoscleral pathway. Choosing an appropriate medical regimen can be challenging and various factors such as efficacy, safety, cost and patient compliance must be considered. First-line treatment is often topical beta-blockers or prostaglandin analogs. However, beta-blocking agents can be associated with systemic side effects and need to be used cautiously in patients with serious concomitant cardiopulmonary disease. Alpha-2 agonists and parasympathomimetics are often considered second- or third-line treatment options but good adjunctive agents. Oral CAIs are often indicated for patients with elevated IOP in an acute setting or for patients resistant to other glaucoma medications and patients who are not good surgical candidates. PMID:23505792

Following the Chernobyl accident, selection for emergency hospitalisation, from among the exposed persons, those in whom the development of acute radiation disease (ARD) was predicted with the highest degree of probability was made within 36 h. This selection was based on the criteria for early diagnosis adopted in the USSR: time and manifestations of primary and local reactions, expression of lymphopenia and neutrophilic leukocytosis. This note outlines the experiences with 129 patients at the Moscow Centre. (author)

Full Text Available Abstract Background Rotavirus (RV is the commonest cause of acute gastroenteritis in infants and young children worldwide. A Quality of Life study was conducted in primary care in three European countries as part of a larger epidemiological study (SPRIK to investigate the impact of paediatric rotavirus gastroenteritis (RVGE on affected children and their parents. Methods A self-administered questionnaire was linguistically validated in Spanish, Italian and Polish. The questionnaire was included in an observational multicentre prospective study of 302 children aged Results Questionnaire responses showed that acute RVGE in a child adversely affects the parents’ daily life as well as the child. Parents of children with RVGE experience worry, distress and impact on their daily activities. RVGE of greater clinical severity (assessed by the Vesikari scale was associated with higher parental worries due to symptoms and greater changes in the child’s behaviour, and a trend to higher impact on parents’ daily activities and higher parental distress, together with a higher score on the symptom severity scale of the questionnaire. Conclusions Parents of a child with acute RVGE presenting to primary care experience worry, distress and disruptions to daily life as a result of the child’s illness. Prevention of this disease through prophylactic vaccination will improve the daily lives of parents and children.

Full Text Available Nutritional status affects outcome in acute illnesses. Weight loss is associated with poor lung functions and outcome in chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD. There is not much data on the effects of nutritional status on hospital outcome in patients with acute exacerbation of COPD. This study was conducted to address this issue. Twenty five patients with COPD admitted with acute exacerbation in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Southern India were studied. Lung functions were as-sessed by spirometry. Nutritional status was assessed using anthropometric mea-sures {body mass index (BMI, mid-arm circumference (MAC, triceps skin-fold thickness (TSF and fat free mass (FFM}. Resting energy expenditure (REE was measured using indirect calorimetry. Hospital outcome was determined by mortal-ity, number of days to improve subjectively and number of days to discharge. Patients with a lower BMI, MAC and TSF took a longer time to recover. REE was found to be lower in patients with weight loss unlike the Western patients. On multivariate analysis, only a lower BMI was associated with a longer time to re-covery. Thus, nutritional status is an important predictor of hospital outcome in patients with COPD.

Full Text Available Acute schistosomiasis is a systemic hypersensitivity reaction against the migrating schistosomula and eggs. A variety of clinical manifestations appear during the migration of schistosomes in humans: cercarial dermatitis, fever, pneumonia, diarrhoea, hepatomegaly, splenomegaly, skin lesions, liver abscesses, brain tumours and myeloradiculopathy. Hypereosinophilia is common and aids diagnosis. The disease has been overlooked, misdiagnosed, underestimated and underreported in endemic areas, but risk groups are well known, including military recruits, some religious congregations, rural tourists and people practicing recreational water sports. Serology may help in diagnosis, but the finding of necrotic-exudative granulomata in a liver biopsy specimen is pathognomonic. Differentials include malaria, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, kala-azar, prolonged Salmonella bacteraemia, lymphoma, toxocariasis, liver abscesses and fever of undetermined origin. For symptomatic hospitalised patients, treatment with steroids and schistosomicides is recommended. Treatment is curative in those timely diagnosed.

Full Text Available This report, based on clinical practice on a children’s ward in New Zealand, examines the role of short-term music therapy in supporting children and their parents[1] facing the difficulties of hospitalisation. It endeavours to explore three questions. How might music therapy support hospitalised children? How can it support parents of hospitalised children? Is it important/valuable for music therapists working in a paediatric ward to involve parent(s in music therapy sessions? Three hospitalised children (aged 11 months, 5 and 7 years, who were accompanied by a parent, participated in a single individual music therapy session. From the clinical notes, semi-structured interviews with the children’s parents and a staff member, and my own reflective journal it was indicated that music therapy supported the psychosocial needs of the paediatric patients and their parents in many ways. For the children music therapy: 1 promoted normalisation; and 2 provided emotional/psychological support. For parents, it: 1 elicited positive changes in mood; 2 reduced anxiety; and 3 supported parental learning/parenting. Furthermore, the findings suggested that the wellbeing of the parent-child relationship can be supported during music therapy. The importance of parental involvement varied for each case, and highlighted different views between therapist, staff member and parents regarding this. Factors that may determine parental involvement and the benefits of both parental presence and absence during sessions were elicited. The report suggests that music therapy has the potential positively to support paediatric wards in New Zealand to provide an environment that is responsive to the psychosocial needs of hospitalised children and their parents.

Full Text Available This report, based on clinical practice on a childrenÃ¢Â€Â™s ward in New Zealand, examines the role of short-term music therapy in supporting children and their parents[1] facing the difficulties of hospitalisation. It endeavours to explore three questions. How might music therapy support hospitalised children? How can it support parents of hospitalised children? Is it important/valuable for music therapists working in a paediatric ward to involve parent(s in music therapy sessions? Three hospitalised children (aged 11 months, 5 and 7 years, who were accompanied by a parent, participated in a single individual music therapy session. From the clinical notes, semi-structured interviews with the childrenÃ¢Â€Â™s parents and a staff member, and my own reflective journal it was indicated that music therapy supported the psychosocial needs of the paediatric patients and their parents in many ways. For the children music therapy: 1 promoted normalisation; and 2 provided emotional/psychological support. For parents, it: 1 elicited positive changes in mood; 2 reduced anxiety; and 3 supported parental learning/parenting. Furthermore, the findings suggested that the wellbeing of the parent-child relationship can be supported during music therapy. The importance of parental involvement varied for each case, and highlighted different views between therapist, staff member and parents regarding this. Factors that may determine parental involvement and the benefits of both parental presence and absence during sessions were elicited. The report suggests that music therapy has the potential positively to support paediatric wards in New Zealand to provide an environment that is responsive to the psychosocial needs of hospitalised children and their parents

conventional hospitalisation, using strict criteria that are both clinical and socio-family in nature. Their correct use assures a significant saving in stays in conventional hospital units, a reduction of the average stay in hospital medical and surgical services and less pressure on the accident and emergency service, since they increase the availability of beds both for programmed admission and for urgent admission in conventional hospitalisation and thus improve patient outflow in the accident and emergency service.

Full Text Available The classification of an acute vascular episode, both heart infarct and stroke, as an accident at work poses difficulties not only for post accidental teams, but also to occupational health professionals, experts and judges at labor and social insurance courts. This article presents the case of a 41-year-old office worker, whose job involved client services. While attending a very aggressive customer she developed solid stress that resulted in symptoms of the central nervous system (headache, speech disturbances. During her hospitalisation at the neurological unit ischemic stroke with transient mixed type aphasia was diagnosed. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI scan of the head revealed subacute ischemia. After an analysis of the accident circumstances, the employer’s post accidental team decided that ischemic stroke had been an accident at work, because it was a sudden incident due to an external cause inducing work-related traumatic stroke. As a primary cause tough stress and emotional strain due to the situation developed while attending the customer were acknowledged. During control medical check up after 5 months the patient was found to be fit for work, so she could return to work. However, it should be noted that such a check up examination of subjects returning to work after stroke must be holistic, including the evaluation of job predispositions and health education aimed at secondary prevention of heart and vascular diseases with special reference to their risk factors. Med Pr 2015;66(4:595–599

60days mortality of 195 Ugandan and 588 Danish acutely ill medical patients that had a NEWS >6 at the time of their admission to the hospital. The association of vital sign changes, alertness and mobility at admission on subsequent outcome was explored. RESULTS: More Kitovu (34.4%) than Danish...... patients (22.1%) died within 60days of admission (OR 1.85, 95% CI 1.27-2.71, p 0.001). However, the survival of non-comatose patients admitted without severely deranged vital signs or who were able to stand without help was identical in both cohorts (Chi square 0.32, p 0.57): these patients made up 50% of...... huge selection and treatment bias found no survival difference at 60days after admission to resource rich and resource poor hospitals for patients without severely deranged vital signs or who were able to stand without help....

Conclusions: Multidisciplinary services at tertiary level may reduce mortality due to Pregnancy related Acute Renal Failure. Most common etiological factor was pre eclampsia and eclampsia. Disappearance of illegal abortion, improvement in ANC with effective management of complicated pregnancy, the facility for safe early elective delivery whenever indicated, the improvement in resuscitation of obstetric hemorrhage and increased preparation of hospital birth had all contributed to the prevention of this devastating complication of pregnancy. [Int J Reprod Contracept Obstet Gynecol 2016; 5(4.000: 1140-1144

Treatment of Type II Respiratory Failure in a COPD patient is a difficult task for the ICU and Pulmonary physician. Multi factorial and multi - disciplinary approach is required . Our experience of two cases treated recently in Katuri medical College Hospita l have common features. One is a male of 54 years age and the other is a female of similar age. Both of them were obese and were nonsmokers. Both were poor and could not afford any ICU treatment on ...

Full Text Available The purpose was to implement system analysis of clinical cases for development of healthcare quality indicators for STe-ACS patients, aimed at achievement of clinical result — decrease of in-hospital mortality. Mathehal and Methods. National recommendations on diagnostic and treatment of patients with myocardial infarction with ST-segment elevation on ECG (2007 were used to determine clinical result of treatment and key measures of medical care. To reveal major causes of clinical result non-achievement fishbone diagram was used. Results. Early reperfusion and optimal medical therapy were determined as the key measures of medical care delivered to patients with STe-ACS. The following indicators were developed to control these measures: «Primary reperfusion», «Thrombolysis in 30 minutes», «Primary percutaneous coronary intervention in 90 minutes», «Dual antiplatelet therapy in hospital», «Beta-blockers administration», «ACE-is/ARBs administration». The major causes of in-hospital mortality were separated. Indicators for assessment the major causes of clinical result non-achievement were proposed. Principal stages of performance measures creation were posed. Conclusion. Recommendation-based and clear definition of clinical result of treatment and key measures of the result achievement combined with methods of systems analysis allows development of evidence-based measures for assessment the quality of care delivered to patients with STe-ACS.

Abstract Background Oral corticosteroids and inhaled bronchodilators with or without antibiotics represent standard treatment of COPD exacerbations of moderate severity. Frequent courses of oral steroids may be a safety issue. We wanted to evaluate in an out-patient setting whether a 2-week course of inhaled budesonide/formoterol would be equally effective for treatment of acute COPD exacerbations as standard therapy in patients judged by the investigator not to require hospitalisation. Metho...

We enrolled a cohort of primary school children with a history of wheeze (n=148) in an 11-month longitudinal study to examine the relationship between ambient air pollution and respiratory morbidity. We obtained daily air pollution (ozone, particulate matter less than 10 μm, and nitrogen dioxide), meteorological, and pollen data. One hundred twenty-five children remained in the final analysis. We used logistic regression models to determine associations between air pollution and respiratory symptoms, asthma medication use, and doctor visits for asthma. There were no associations between ambient ozone concentrations and respiratory symptoms, asthma medication use, and doctor visits for asthma. There was, however, an association between PM10 concentrations and doctor visits for asthma (RR=1.11, 95% CI=1.04-1.19) and between NO2 concentration and wet cough (RR=1.05, 95% CI=1.003-1.10) in single-pollutant models. The associations remained significant in multipollutant models. There was no consistent evidence that children with wheeze, positive histamine challenge, and doctor diagnosis of asthma reacted differently to air pollution from children with wheeze and doctor diagnosis of asthma and children with wheeze only. There were significant associations between PM10 levels and doctor visits for asthma and an association between NO2 levels and the prevalence of wet cough. We were, however, unable to demonstrate that current levels of ambient air pollution in western Sydney have a coherent range of adverse health effects on children with a history of wheezing

... sharing features on this page, please enable JavaScript. Acute bronchitis is swelling and inflammation in the main passages ... present only for a short time. Causes When acute bronchitis occurs, it almost always comes after having a ...

Acute bronchitis is swelling and inflammation in the main passages that carry air to the lungs. The swelling narrows ... makes it harder to breathe. Another symptom of bronchitis is a cough. Acute means the symptoms have ...

Bronchitis is an inflammation of the bronchial tubes, the airways that carry air to your lungs. It ... chest tightness. There are two main types of bronchitis: acute and chronic. Most cases of acute bronchitis ...

Full Text Available Abstract Background Interpersonal violence is responsible for more ill-health and premature death in women under the age of 45 than other preventable health conditions, but findings concerning the effects of violence during pregnancy on both maternal and foetal health have been inconsistent. Methods A retrospective population-based cohort study was undertaken using linked data from the Hospital Morbidity Data Collection and the Western Australian Midwives' Notification System from 2002 to 2008. The aim was to determine the association between exposure to interpersonal violence during pregnancy and adverse maternal and foetal health outcomes at the population level. Results A total of 468 pregnant women were hospitalised for an incident of interpersonal violence during the study period, and 3,744 randomly selected pregnant women were included as the comparison group. The majority of violent events were perpetrated by the pregnant women's partner or spouse. Pregnant Indigenous women were over-represented accounting for 67% of all hospitalisations due to violence and their risk of experiencing adverse maternal outcomes was significantly increased compared to non-Indigenous women (adjusted odds ratio 1.53, 95% CI 1.21 to 1.95, p = 0.01. Pregnant women hospitalised for an incident of interpersonal violence sustained almost double the risk for adverse maternal complications than the non-exposed group (95% CI 1.34 to 2.18, p Conclusions The risk of adverse health outcomes for both the mother and the baby increases if a pregnant woman is hospitalised for an incident of interpersonal violence during pregnancy.

The use of baseline lung function in the prediction of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) hospitalisations, all-cause mortality and lung function decline was assessed in the population-based "Men Born in 1914" cohort.Spirometry was assessed at age 55 years in 689 subjects, of whom 392 had spirometry reassessed at age 68 years. The cohort was divided into three groups using fixed ratio (FR) and lower limit of normal (LLN) criterion: forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)/vital capacity (VC) ≥70%, FEV1/VC <70% but ≥LLN (FR(+)LLN(-)), and FEV1/VC <70% and hospitalised due to COPD and 686 died. Hazard ratios (95% CI) for incident COPD hospitalisation were 4.15 (2.24-7.69) for FR(+)LLN(-) and 7.88 (4.82-12.87) for FR(+)LLN(+) (reference FEV1/VC ≥70%). Hazard ratios for death were 1.30 (0.98-1.72) for FR(+)LLN(-) and 1.58 (1.25-2.00) for FR(+)LLN(+). The adjusted FEV1 decline between 55 and 68 years of age was higher for FR(+)LLN(-) and FR(+)LLN(+) relative to the reference. Of those with FR(+)LLN(-) at 55 years, 53% had progressed to the FR(+)LLN(+) group at 68 years.Airflow obstruction at age 55 years is a powerful risk factor for future COPD hospitalisations. The FR(+)LLN(-) group should be carefully evaluated in clinical practice in relation to future risks and potential benefit from early intervention. This is reinforced by the increased FEV1 decline in this group. PMID:26647443

Brief interventions have been identified as a useful tool for facilitating smoking cessation, particularly in the acute care setting and in areas where access to specialist staff is limited, such as rural Australia. A self-administered survey was used to determine current rural nursing staff practices in relation to brief intervention for smoking cessation, and to ascertain the perceived level of support, skills, needs and barriers amongst these staff to conducting brief interventions. The major findings include that while the majority of respondents were aware of their patients' smoking status, most were not very confident about assisting smoking patients to quit. Casually employed nurses were much less likely to be aware of patient smoking status than nurses employed full-time or permanent part-time. Only one-quarter to one-third of nurses did not believe assisting patients to quit was part of their role, and the vast majority of nurses reported that they were non-smokers. Future programs incorporating the routine use of brief interventions will need to consider these findings. PMID:11952519

Background: Acute pancreatitis continues to be a serious illness, and the patients with acute pancreatitis are at risk to develop different complications from ongoing pancreatic inflammation. Aims: The present review is to highlight the classification, treatment and prognosis of acute pancreatitis. Material & Methods: We reviewed the English-language literature (Medline) addressing pancreatitis. Results: Acute pancreatitis is frequently caused by gallstone disease or excess alcohol ingestion....

Background Experimental studies suggest that metabolic myocardial support by intravenous (IV) glucose, insulin, and potassium (GIK) reduces ischemia-induced arrhythmias, cardiac arrest, mortality, progression from unstable angina pectoris (UAP) to acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and MI size. However, trials of hospital administration of IV GIK to patients with ST elevation MI (STEMI) have generally not shown favorable effects, possibly due to the GIK intervention taking place many hours after ischemic symptom onset. A trial of GIK used in the very first hours of ischemia has been needed, consistent with the timing of benefit seen in experimental studies. Objective The Immediate Myocardial Metabolic Enhancement During Initial Assessment and Treatment in Emergency care (IMMEDIATE) Trial tested whether, if given very early, GIK could have the impact seen in experimental studies. Accordingly, distinct from prior trials, IMMEDIATE tested the impact of GIK 1) in patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS), rather than only AMI or STEMI, and 2) administered in prehospital emergency medical service (EMS) settings, rather than later, in hospitals, following emergency department evaluation. Design IMMEDIATE was an EMS-based randomized placebo-controlled clinical effectiveness trial conducted in 13 cities across the US which enrolled 911 participants. Eligible were patients age 30 or older for whom a paramedic performed a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG)to evaluate chest pain or other symptoms suggestive of ACS for whom electrocardiograph-based ACI-TIPI (acute cardiac ischemia time-insensitive predictive instrument) indicated a > 75% probability of ACS, and/or the TPI (thrombolytic predictive instrument) indicated presence of a STEMI, or if local criteria for STEMI notification of receiving hospitals were met. Prehospital IV GIK or placebo was started immediately. Pre-specified were the primary endpoint of progression of ACS to infarction, and as major secondary endpoints

Full Text Available Abstract Background The impact of HIV infection on the evolution of acute community-acquired pneumonia (CAP is still controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate possible differences in the clinical presentation and in-hospital outcomes of patients with CAP with and without HIV infection in a specialised service in Yaounde. Methods Medical files of 106 patients (51 men aged 15 years and above, admitted to the Pneumology service of the Yaounde Jamot Hospital between January 2008 and May 2012, were retrospectively studied. Results Sixty-two (58.5% patients were HIV infected. The median age of all patients was 40 years (interquartile range: 31.75-53 and there was no difference in the clinical and radiological profile of patients with and without HIV infection. The median leukocyte count (interquartile range was 14,600/mm3 (10,900-20,600 and 10,450/mm3 (6,400-16,850 respectively in HIV negative and HIV positive patients (p = 0.002. Median haemoglobin level (interquartile range was 10.8 g/dl (8.9-12 in HIV negative and 9.7 g/dl (8–11.6 in HIV positive patients (p = 0.025. In-hospital treatment failure on third day (39.5% vs. 25.5.1%, p = 0.137 and mortality rates (9% vs. 14.5%, p = 0.401 were similar between HIV negative and HIV positive patients. Conclusion Clinical and radiological features as well as response to treatment and in hospital fatal outcomes are similar in adult patients hospitalised with acute community-acquired pneumonia in Yaounde. In contrast, HIV infected patients tend to be more anaemic and have lower white cell counts than HIV negative patients. Larger prospective studies are needed to consolidate these findings.

The medical examination of the sexually abused child may have evidentiary, medical, and therapeutic purposes, and the timing of the examination requires consideration of each of these objectives. In cases of acute sexual assault, emergent examinations may be needed to identify injury, collect forensic evidence, and provide infection and pregnancy…

Full Text Available Background: Acute pancreatitis continues to be a serious illness, and the patients with acute pancreatitis are at risk to develop different complications from ongoing pancreatic inflammation. Aims: The present review is to highlight the classification, treatment and prognosis of acute pancreatitis. Material & Methods: We reviewed the English-language literature (Medline addressing pancreatitis. Results: Acute pancreatitis is frequently caused by gallstone disease or excess alcohol ingestion. There are a number of important issues regarding clinical highlights in the classification, treatment and prognosis of acute pancreatitis, and treatment options for complications of acute pancreatitis including pancreatic pseudocysts. Conclusions: Multidisciplinary approach should be used for the management of the patient with acute pancreatitis.

Full Text Available Background : Acute pancreatitis continues to be a serious illness, and the patients with acute pancreatitis are at risk to develop different complications from ongoing pancreatic inflammation. Aims : The present review is to highlight the classification, treatment and prognosis of acute pancreatitis. Material & Methods : We reviewed the English-language literature (Medline addressing pancreatitis. Results : Acute pancreatitis is frequently caused by gallstone disease or excess alcohol ingestion. There are a number of important issues regarding clinical highlights in the classification, treatment and prognosis of acute pancreatitis, and treatment options for complications of acute pancreatitis including pancreatic pseudocysts. Conclusions : Multidisciplinary approach should be used for the management of the patient with acute pancreatitis.

Full Text Available Abstract Background To determine the suitability of using the self-controlled case series design to assess improvements in health outcomes using the effectiveness of beta blockers for heart failure in reducing hospitalisations as the example. Methods The Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs administrative claims database was used to undertake a self-controlled case-series in elderly patients aged 65 years or over to compare the risk of a heart failure hospitalisation during periods of being exposed and unexposed to a beta blocker. Two studies, the first using a one year period and the second using a four year period were undertaken to determine if the estimates varied due to changes in severity of heart failure over time. Results In the one year period, 3,450 patients and in the four year period, 12, 682 patients had at least one hospitalisation for heart failure. The one year period showed a non-significant decrease in hospitalisations for heart failure 4-8 months after starting beta-blockers, (RR, 0.76; 95% CI (0.57-1.02 and a significant decrease in the 8-12 months post-initiation of a beta blocker for heart failure (RR, 0.62; 95% CI (0.39, 0.99. For the four year study there was an increased risk of hospitalisation less than eight months post-initiation and significant but smaller decrease in the 8-12 month window (RR, 0.90; 95% CI (0.82, 0.98. Conclusions The results of the one year observation period are similar to those observed in randomised clinical trials indicating that the self-controlled case-series method can be successfully applied to assess health outcomes. However, the result appears sensitive to the study periods used and further research to understand the appropriate applications of this method in pharmacoepidemiology is still required. The results also illustrate the benefits of extending beta blocker utilisation to the older age group of heart failure patients in which their use is common but the evidence is

Full Text Available Treatment of Type II Respiratory Failure in a COPD patient is a difficult task for the ICU and Pulmonary physician. Multi factorial and multi - disciplinary approach is required . Our experience of two cases treated recently in Katuri medical College Hospita l have common features. One is a male of 54 years age and the other is a female of similar age. Both of them were obese and were nonsmokers. Both were poor and could not afford any ICU treatment on their own. Both were rescued by State sponsored Arogyasree programme. Both of them had the advantage of support from their families. Aided by Arogyasree programme, dedicated staff of ICU, Pulmonology, ENT departments , timely interventions with electrolyte balance, balanced antibiotic therapy, Noninvasive and inva sive ventilator strategies, Nutritional support, Blood transfusions, Timely Tracheostomy and excellent nursing care and drug administration in ICU both patients recovered back to normalcy . Initially both required home oxygen therapy and both were subsequen tly seen maintaining normal oxygenation status even without oxygen causing happiness to family members and the treating physicians

We analyze the patterns of utilization of glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa inhibitors in patients with non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) in a tertiary medical center in a developing country and we compare it to data from the national registry of myocardial infarction 4 (NRMI 4) in the USA. GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors were used in 28% of patients. The significant multivariate predictors of GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors utilization were Age or =4 (p=0.002), and the absence of congestive heart failure (p=0.01) or prior infarction (p=0.04). Our results show striking similarity to what has been reported by the NRMI 4 registry, in terms of the overall underutilization of GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors in NSTEMI patients, and particularly in elderly patients and women. These findings underscore the importance of initiating a worldwide campaign to educate physicians about the pivotal role of GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors in the management of patients with NSTEMI. PMID:16581145

A research reactor for exclusive use in experimental radiobiology was designed and built at Argonne National Laboratory in the 1960's. It was located in a special addition to Building 202, which housed the Division of Biological and Medical Research. Its location assured easy access for all users to the animal facilities, and it was also near the existing gamma-irradiation facilities. The water-cooled, heterogeneous 200-kW(th) reactor, named JANUS, became the focal point for a range of radiobiological studies gathered under the rubic of open-quotes the JANUS programclose quotes. The program ran from about 1969 to 1992 and included research at all levels of biological organization, from subcellular to organism. More than a dozen moderate- to large-scale studies with the B6CF1 mouse were carried out; these focused on the late effects of whole-body exposure to gamma rays or fission neutrons, in matching exposure regimes. In broad terms, these studies collected data on survival and on the pathology observed at death. A deliberate effort was made to establish the cause of death. This archieve describes these late-effects studies and their general findings. The database includes exposure parameters, time of death, and the gross pathology and histopathology in codified form. A series of appendices describes all pathology procedures and codes, treatment or irradiation codes, and the manner in which the data can be accessed in the ORACLE database management system. A series of tables also presents summaries of the individual experiments in terms of radiation quality, sample sizes at entry, mean survival times by sex, and number of gross pathology and histopathology records

A research reactor for exclusive use in experimental radiobiology was designed and built at Argonne National Laboratory in the 1960`s. It was located in a special addition to Building 202, which housed the Division of Biological and Medical Research. Its location assured easy access for all users to the animal facilities, and it was also near the existing gamma-irradiation facilities. The water-cooled, heterogeneous 200-kW(th) reactor, named JANUS, became the focal point for a range of radiobiological studies gathered under the rubic of {open_quotes}the JANUS program{close_quotes}. The program ran from about 1969 to 1992 and included research at all levels of biological organization, from subcellular to organism. More than a dozen moderate- to large-scale studies with the B6CF{sub 1} mouse were carried out; these focused on the late effects of whole-body exposure to gamma rays or fission neutrons, in matching exposure regimes. In broad terms, these studies collected data on survival and on the pathology observed at death. A deliberate effort was made to establish the cause of death. This archieve describes these late-effects studies and their general findings. The database includes exposure parameters, time of death, and the gross pathology and histopathology in codified form. A series of appendices describes all pathology procedures and codes, treatment or irradiation codes, and the manner in which the data can be accessed in the ORACLE database management system. A series of tables also presents summaries of the individual experiments in terms of radiation quality, sample sizes at entry, mean survival times by sex, and number of gross pathology and histopathology records.

... this page: //medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000899.htm Medical marijuana To use the sharing features on this ... have legalized marijuana for medical use. How Does Medical Marijuana Work? Medical marijuana may be: Smoked Vaporized ...

Abstract Background The aims of this study were to describe the occurrence of substance use at the time of injury and pre-injury substance abuse in patients with moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Effects of acute substance use and pre-injury substance abuse on TBI severity were also investigated. Methods A prospective study of 111 patients, aged 16-55 years, injured from May 2005 to May 2007 and hospitalised at the Trauma Referral Centre in Eastern Norway with acute TBI (Glasgo...

Full Text Available Abstract Background Patients' satisfaction is an important indicator for quality of care. Measuring healthcare quality and improving patient satisfaction have become increasingly prevalent, especially among healthcare providers and purchasers of healthcare. This is mainly due to the fact that consumers are becoming increasingly more knowledgeable about healthcare. No studies of inpatients' satisfaction with hospital care have been conducted in Morocco. The first objective of the present study was to confirm the reliability and validity of the Arabic version of the EQS-H (Echelle de Qualité des Soins en Hospitalisation. The second objective was to evaluate patient satisfaction in an acute medicine department in Morocco by using the EQS-H questionnaire; and also to assess the influence of certain demographics, socioeconomics, and health characteristics in patient satisfaction. Methods it was a patient survey conducted in an acute medicine department of a Moroccan University Hospital. We surveyed their socio demographic status, and health characteristics at admission. We performed structured face to face interviews with patients who were discharged from hospital. The core of the EQS-H questionnaire was translated to Arabic, adapted to the present setting, and then used to measure patient satisfaction with quality of care. The internal consistency of the EQS-H scale was assessed by Chronbach's coefficient alpha. Validity was assessed by factor analysis. Factors influencing inpatients' satisfaction were identified using multiple linear regression. Results The Arabic version of EQS-H demonstrated an excellent internal consistency for the two dimensions studied (0.889 for 'quality of medical information' (MI and 0.906 for 'Relationship with staff and daily routine' (RS. The principal component analysis confirmed the bidimensional structure of the questionnaire and explained 60% of the total variance. In the univariate analysis, urban residence, higher

Investigators at Department of Pediatrics, Neurology Division, Adana Medical Research Center; and Division of Child Neurology, Ankara, Turkey, retrospectively evaluated 15 children with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) in children from the center in Adana.

Full Text Available Abstract Objectives this Italian observational study was aimed at collecting data of psychiatric patients with acute episodes entering General Hospital Psychiatric Wards (GHPWs. Information was focused on diagnosis (DSM-IV, reasons of hospitalisation, prescribed treatment, outcome of aggressive episodes, evolution of the acute episode. Methods assessments were performed at admission and discharge. Used psychometric scales were the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS, the Modified Overt Aggression Scale (MOAS and the Nurses' Observation Scale for Inpatient Evaluation (NOSIE-30. Results 864 adult patients were enrolled in 15 GHPWs: 728 (320 M; mean age 43.6 yrs completed both admission and discharge visits. A severe psychotic episode with (19.1% or without (47.7% aggressive behaviour was the main reason of admission. Schizophrenia (42.8% at admission and 40.1% at discharge and depression (12.9% at admission and 14.7% at discharge were the predominant diagnoses. The mean hospital stay was 12 days. The mean (± SD total score of MOAS at admission, day 7 and discharge was, respectively, 2.53 ± 5.1, 0.38 ± 2.2, and 0.21 ± 1.5. Forty-four (6.0% patients had episodes of aggressiveness at admission and 8 (1.7% at day 7. A progressive improvement in each domain/item vs. admission was observed for MOAS and BPRS, while NOSIE-30 did not change from day 4 onwards. The number of patients with al least one psychotic drug taken at admission, in the first 7 days of hospitalisation, and prescribed at discharge, was, respectively: 472 (64.8%, 686 (94.2% and 676 (92.9%. The respective most frequently psychotic drugs were: BDZs (60.6%, 85.7%, 69.5%, typical anti-psychotics (48.3%, 57.0%, 49.6%, atypical anti-psychotics (35.6%, 41.8%, 39.8% and antidepressants (40.9%, 48.8%, 43.2%. Rates of patients with one, two or > 2 psychotic drugs taken at admission and day 7, and prescribed at discharge, were, respectively: 24.8%, 8.2% and 13.5% in mono-therapy; 22.0%, 20

Editors' Summary Background Insulin—a hormone released by the pancreas after meals—controls blood glucose (sugar) levels in healthy individuals. However, many patients admitted to hospital because of an acute illness have hyperglycemia, an abnormally high blood glucose level. In this setting, hyperglycemia can be caused by the drugs that patients are taking for existing conditions or may be stress hyperglycemia, a reversible condition in which hormonal changes induced by acute illness stimula...

Background and Purpose Acute myelitis patients exhibiting only sensory deficits upon initial presentation are not commonly encountered in clinical practice, but they definitely exist. Since acute sensory myelitis has not been investigated previously, this study evaluated the etiological spectrum of the condition with the aim of describing the clinical characteristics thereof. Methods Patients with acute myelitis who presented at the Ewha Womans University Medical Center (during 1999-2012) and...

Idiopathic intracranial hypertension is a headache syndrome with progressive symptoms of raised intracranial pressure. Most commonly, it is a slow process where surveillance and medical management are the main treatment modalities. We describe herein an acute presentation with bilateral sixth nerve palsies, papilloedema and visual deterioration, where acute surgical intervention was a vision-saving operation.

of life until the children reached the age of 6 years or the end of 2004, whichever came first. Information on parental socio-economic position (education, labour market attachment and household income) was gathered through record linkage with administrative registries. Infections were grouped into upper......The purpose of this study was to examine socio-economic differences in the risk of hospitalisation among children aged 0-5 years in Denmark from 1985 to 2004. All children born between 1985 and 2004 (n=1,278,286) were followed for hospital admissions for infectious diseases from the 29th day...

目的:探讨医用臭氧在淋巴瘤化疗中乙肝急发加重时的应用.方法:对1例慢性乙型肝炎肝硬化同时患非霍奇金淋巴瘤(NHL)患者进行化疗(CHOP方案)过程中出现乙肝病毒活动及肝衰竭(Child-Pugh评分11分),使用拉米夫定及对症支持治疗后肝功能缓解,但首次化疗结束后4个月淋巴瘤复发.美罗华及再次CHOP方案化疗2次后,肝损害加重;加用臭氧治疗(臭氧自血疗法/臭氧直肠灌注),继续完成原方案化疗.结果:1例淋巴瘤化疗中乙肝急发加重患者在原有的治疗方案中加用臭氧治疗,淋巴瘤疗效显著,未出现肝功能衰竭,肝功能有所恢复(Child-Push评分7分).结论:医用臭氧能激活细胞抗氧化和清除自由基能力及改善微循环作用,具有保护肝脏,使其免于或减轻化疗药物的损害的作用.%Objective:To explore the application of the medical ozone in acute exacerbations of hepatitis B of 1 case of lymphoma chemotherapy.Methods: 1 patient who suffering with chronic hepatitis B liver cirrhosis and non-Hedgkin's lym-phoma(NHL) appeared hepatitis B virus activity and liver failure in the course of chemotherapy (CHOP program) (Child-Pugh score 11 points),the function of liver was mitigated after the treatment of Lamivudine Tablets and symptomatic sup-port,but the lymphoma recurrence after 4 months.Rituximab and 2 times CHOP chemotherapy,increased the liver damage; increase with ozone treatment (serf-blood therapy /ozone rectal infusion),continued to complete the original program of chemotherapy.Results:Acute exacerbations of hepatitis B of 1 case of lymphoma chemotherapy with ozone treatment in-crease in the original treatment,made a significant effect of lymphoma, no liver failure and the liver function recovery(Child-Pugh score 7 points).Conclusion:Medical ozone can be activated the effect of cell antioxidant capacity and free radical scavenging and improve the mierocirculation,protect the liver mitigate the damage

A previously healthy 7-year-old Caucasian boy was hospitalised for evaluation of acute ataxia and failure to thrive, initially suspicious for an intracranial mass. Weight and body mass index were below the third percentile and he demonstrated loss of joint position and vibratory sense on examination. Laboratory studies revealed megaloblastic anaemia while an initial MRI of the brain showed no evidence of mass lesions or other abnormalities. A dietary history revealed the child subscribed to a restrictive vegan diet with little to no intake of animal products or other fortified foods. The child was diagnosed with presumed vitamin B12 deficiency and was treated with intramuscular B12 injections. Neurological symptoms resolved promptly within several days after starting therapy. This case underlines the importance of assessing nutritional status in the evaluation of neurological dysfunction in the pediatric patient. PMID:23536622

OBJECTIVE: To study how income and educational level influence mortality after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). DESIGN AND SETTING: Prospective analysis using individual level linkage of registries in Denmark. PARTICIPANTS: All patients 30-74 years old hospitalised for the first time with AMI in...... Denmark in 1995-2002. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Relative risk (RR) of 30 day mortality and long term mortality (31 days until 31 December 2003) associated with income (adjusted for education) or educational level (adjusted for income) and further adjusted for sex, age, civil status, and comorbidity. RESULTS...... adjusted RR of 30 day mortality and long term mortality among younger patients with low compared with high income was 1.54 (95% confidence interval 1.36 to 1.79) and 1.65 (1.45 to 1.85), respectively. The RR of 30 day and long term mortality among younger patients with low compared with high education was...

Purpose Younger patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) harboring NPM1 mutations without FLT3–internal tandem duplications (ITDs; NPM1-positive/FLT3-ITD–negative genotype) are classified as better risk; however, it remains uncertain whether this favorable classification can be applied to older patients with AML with this genotype. Therefore, we examined the impact of age on the prognostic significance of NPM1-positive/FLT3-ITD–negative status in older patients with AML. Patients and Methods Patients with AML age ≥ 55 years treated with intensive chemotherapy as part of Southwest Oncology Gorup (SWOG) and UK National Cancer Research Institute/Medical Research Council (NCRI/MRC) trials were evaluated. A comprehensive analysis first examined 156 patients treated in SWOG trials. Validation analyses then examined 1,258 patients treated in MRC/NCRI trials. Univariable and multivariable analyses were used to determine the impact of age on the prognostic significance of NPM1 mutations, FLT3-ITDs, and the NPM1-positive/FLT3-ITD–negative genotype. Results Patients with AML age 55 to 65 years with NPM1-positive/FLT3-ITD–negative genotype treated in SWOG trials had a significantly improved 2-year overall survival (OS) as compared with those without this genotype (70% v 32%; P 65 years with this genotype (70% v 27%; P 65 years was marginal (27% v 16%; P = .33). In multivariable analysis, NPM1-positive/FLT3-ITD–negative genotype remained independently associated with an improved OS in patients age 55 to 65 years (P = .002) but not in those age > 65 years (P = .82). These results were confirmed in validation analyses examining the NCRI/MRC patients. Conclusion NPM1-positive/FLT3-ITD–negative genotype remains a relatively favorable prognostic factor for patients with AML age 55 to 65 years but not in those age > 65 years. PMID:25713434

... effects of the medications on your hearing and balance systems. The team will discuss with you how these side effects will affect your quality of life. What are the effects I may notice from ... speech is affected. Balance problems can also occur as a result of ...

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Kawasaki disease results from an abnormal immunological response to one or more infectious triggers. We hypothesised that heritable differences in immune responses in Kawasaki disease-affected children and their families would result in different epidemiological patterns of other immune-related conditions. We investigated whether hospitalisation for infection and asthma/allergy were different in Kawasaki disease-affected children and their relatives. METHODS/MAJOR FINDINGS: We used Western Australian population-linked health data from live births (1970-2006 to compare patterns of hospital admissions in Kawasaki disease cases, age- and sex-matched controls, and their relatives. There were 295 Kawasaki disease cases and 598 age- and sex-matched controls, with 1,636 and 3,780 relatives, respectively. Compared to controls, cases were more likely to have been admitted at least once with an infection (cases, 150 admissions (50.8% vs controls, 210 admissions (35.1%; odds ratio (OR = 1.9, 95% confidence interval (CI 1.4-2.6, P = 7.2×10⁻⁶, and with asthma/allergy (cases, 49 admissions (16.6% vs controls, 42 admissions (7.0%; OR = 2.6, 95% CI 1.7-4.2, P = 1.3×10⁻⁵. Cases also had more admissions per person with infection (cases, median 2 admissions, 95% CI 1-5, vs controls, median 1 admission, 95% CI 1-4, P = 1.09×10⁻⁵. The risk of admission with infection was higher in the first degree relatives of Kawasaki disease cases compared to those of controls, but the differences were not significant. CONCLUSION: Differences in the immune phenotype of children who develop Kawasaki disease may influence the severity of other immune-related conditions, with some similar patterns observed in relatives. These data suggest the influence of shared heritable factors in these families.

Introduction Acute respiratory failure (ARF) often presents and progresses outside of the intensive care unit. However, recognition and treatment of acute critical illness is often delayed with inconsistent adherence to evidence-based care known to decrease the duration of mechanical ventilation (MV) and complications of critical illness. The goal of this trial is to determine whether the implementation of an electronic medical record-based early alert for progressive respiratory failure coupled with a checklist to promote early compliance to best practice in respiratory failure can improve the outcomes of patients at risk for prolonged respiratory failure and death. Methods and analysis A pragmatic stepped-wedged cluster clinical trial involving 6 hospitals is planned. The study will include adult hospitalised patients identified as high risk for MV >48 hours or death because they were mechanically ventilated outside of the operating room or they were identified as high risk for ARF on the Accurate Prediction of PROlonged VEntilation (APPROVE) score. Patients with advanced directives limiting intubation will be excluded. The intervention will consist of (1) automated identification and notification of clinician of high-risk patients by APPROVE or by invasive MV and (2) checklist of evidence-based practices in ARF (Prevention of Organ Failure Checklist—PROOFCheck). APPROVE and PROOFCheck will be developed in the pretrial period. Primary outcome is hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes include length of stay, ventilator and organ failure-free days and 6-month and 12-month mortality. Predefined subgroup analysis of patients with limitation of aggressive care after study entry is planned. Generalised estimating equations will be used to compare patients in the intervention phase with the control phase, adjusting for clustering within hospitals and time. Ethics and dissemination The study was approved by the institutional review boards. Results will be published

Full Text Available The acute onset of psychotic symptoms in elderly can be the presenting clinical feature for various Central Nervous System as well as other systemic illnesses. The diagnosis and treatment of such presentation require a cautious medical work up and high level of suspicion even if the patient is not showing any cardinal symptoms for organic pathology.

The acute onset of psychotic symptoms in elderly can be the presenting clinical feature for various Central Nervous System as well as other systemic illnesses. The diagnosis and treatment of such presentation require a cautious medical work up and high level of suspicion even if the patient is not showing any cardinal symptoms for organic pathology.

Therapeutic medical abortion; Elective medical abortion; Induced abortion; Nonsurgical abortion ... A medical, or nonsurgical, abortion can be done within 7 weeks from the first day of the woman's last ...

Aetiologic factors (gallstones, hyperlipidemia I-IV, hypertriglyceridaemia) make their occurrence, mainly, in the third trimester of gestation. Two cases of acute pancreatitis in pregnancy are described; in both cases patients referred healthy diet, no habit to smoke and no previous episode of pancreatitis. An obstructive pathology of biliary tract was the aetiologic factor. Vomiting, upper abdominal pain are aspecific symptoms that impose a differential diagnosis with acute appendicitis, cholecystitis and obstructive intestinal pathology. Laboratory data (elevated serum amylase and lipase levels) and ultrasonography carry out an accurate diagnosis. The management of acute pancreatitis is based on the use of symptomatic drugs, a low fat diet alternated to the parenteral nutrition when triglycerides levels are more than 28 mmol/L. Surgical therapy, used only in case of obstructive pathology of biliary tract, is optimally collected in the third trimester or immediately after postpartum. Our patients, treated only medically, delivered respectively at 38th and 40th week of gestation. Tempestivity of diagnosis and appropriate therapy permit to improve prognosis of a pathology that, although really associated with pregnancy, presents high maternal mortality (37%) cause of complications (shock, coagulopathy, acute respiratory insufficiency) and fetal (37.9%) by occurrence of preterm delivery. PMID:8139793

Herbal cannabis has been used for thousands of years for medical purposes. With elucidation of the chemical structures of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) and with discovery of the human endocannabinoid system, the medical usefulness of cannabinoids has been more intensively explored. While more randomized clinical trials are needed for some medical conditions, other medical disorders, like chronic cancer and neuropathic pain and certain symptoms of multiple sclerosis, have substantial evidence supporting cannabinoid efficacy. While herbal cannabis has not met rigorous FDA standards for medical approval, specific well-characterized cannabinoids have met those standards. Where medical cannabis is legal, patients typically see a physician who "certifies" that a benefit may result. Physicians must consider important patient selection criteria such as failure of standard medical treatment for a debilitating medical disorder. Medical cannabis patients must be informed about potential adverse effects, such as acute impairment of memory, coordination and judgment, and possible chronic effects, such as cannabis use disorder, cognitive impairment, and chronic bronchitis. In addition, social dysfunction may result at work/school, and there is increased possibility of motor vehicle accidents. Novel ways to manipulate the endocannbinoid system are being explored to maximize benefits of cannabinoid therapy and lessen possible harmful effects. Key messages The medical disorders with the current best evidence that supports a benefit for cannabinoid use are the following: multiple sclerosis patient-reported symptoms of spasticity (nabiximols, nabilone, dronabinol, and oral cannabis extract), multiple sclerosis central pain or painful spasms (nabiximols, nabilone, dronabinol, and oral cannabis extract), multiple sclerosis bladder frequency (nabiximols), and chronic cancer pain/neuropathic pain (nabiximols and smoked THC). Herbal cannabis has not met rigorous US FDA

... page: //medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000287.htm Acute pancreatitis To use the sharing features on this page, ... fatty foods after the attack has improved. Outlook (Prognosis) Most cases go away in a week. However, ...

Radiodiagnosis is applied to determine the causes of acute dyspnea. Acute dyspnea is shown to aggravate the course of pulmonary diseases (bronchial asthma, obstructive bronchitis, pulmonary edema, throboembolism of pulmonary arteries etc) and cardiovascular diseases (desiseas of myocardium). The main tasks of radiodiagnosis are to determine volume and state of the lungs, localization and type of pulmonary injuries, to verify heart disease and to reveal concomitant complications

Acute bronchitis, with transient inflammation of the trachea and major bronchi, affects over 40/1000 adults a year in the UK. The causes are usually considered to be infective, but only around half of people have identifiable pathogens.The role of smoking or environmental tobacco smoke inhalation in predisposing to acute bronchitis is unclear.A third of people may have longer-term symptoms or recurrence.

In the United States alone, more than 400,000 Americans die annually from coronary artery disease and more than 1,000,000 suffer acute coronary events, i.e., myocardial infarction and sudden cardiac death.1 Considering the aging of our population and increasing incidence of diabetes and obesity, the morbidity from coronary artery disease, and its associated costs, will place an increasing, substantial burden on our society.2 Between 2010 and 2030, total direct medical costs spent in the US for cardiovascular diseases are projected to triple from 273 to 818 billion dollars.2 Although effective treatments are available and considerable efforts are ongoing to identify new strategies for the prevention of coronary events, predicting such events in an individual has been challenging.3 In hopes of improving our ability to determine the risk of coronary events, it is prudent to review our knowledge of factors that lead to acute coronary events. PMID:22392862

Diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for acute biliary inflammation/infection (acute cholangitis and acute cholecystitis), according to severity grade, have not yet been established in the world. Therefore we formulated flowcharts for the management of acute biliary inflammation/infection in accordance with severity grade. For mild (grade I) acute cholangitis, medical treatment may be sufficient/appropriate. For moderate (grade II) acute cholangitis, early biliary drainage should be performe...

研究黄蜀葵花提取物金丝桃苷的急性毒性和遗传毒性,对其安全性进行评价.急性毒性试验中,选用健康BALB/c小鼠40只,雌雄各半,灌胃给药(5000 mg/kg),连续观察14天,记录中毒和死亡情况,测定小鼠的半数致死量(LD50).用目前新药遗传毒性评价中推荐使用的3种试验方法,营养缺陷型鼠伤寒沙门氏菌回复突变试验(Ames试验),中国仓鼠肺成纤维细胞(CHL)染色体畸变试验和小鼠骨髓微核试验研究金丝桃苷的遗传毒性.在急性毒性试验中,所有实验动物都存活,且行为活泼,未见明显异常.Ames试验中,金丝桃苷在加或不加肝微粒体酶(S9)时均未见引起TA97、TA98、TA100和TA102试验菌株基因突变(P＞0.05).体外CHL细胞染色体畸变试验中,金丝桃苷在加或不加S9时均未引起CHL细胞的染色体畸变(P＞0.05).小鼠微核试验中,金丝桃苷各剂量组小鼠骨髓多染红细胞微核率与阴性对照组相比,差异无统计学意义(P＞0.05).在本实验条件下,金丝桃苷对于BALB/c小鼠的LD50大于5000 mg/kg,金丝桃苷没有遗传毒性.%To further assess hyperoside as a potential new anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) drug,the safety of hyperoside extracted from Abelmoschus manihot (L.) Medic was evaluated by testing its acute toxicity and mutagenic risk.To test the acute toxicity of hyperoside,we determined the median lethal dose (LD50) in mice.Forty healthy BALB/c mice (20 per sex) were administered a single oral dose of 5000 mg/kg hyperoside via the intragastrical route.The number of animals poisoned and died was noted daily for 14 consecutive days.All animals survived and appeared active and normal,indicating that the LD50 of hyperoside was more than 5000 mg/kg.Potential genotoxicity of hyperoside was investigated using a bacterial reverse mutation assay (Ames test),a chromosome aberration test in Chinese hamster lung (CHL) fibroblasts,and an in vivo micronucleus test in rat bone marrow cells

Introduction There is an evidence gap about how to best treat patients with prior coronary artery bypass grafts (CABGs) presenting with non-ST segment elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTE-ACS) because historically, these patients were excluded from pivotal randomised trials. We aim to undertake a pilot trial of routine non-invasive management versus routine invasive management in patients with NSTE-ACS with prior CABG and optimal medical therapy during routine clinical care. Our trial is a proof-of-concept study for feasibility, safety, potential efficacy and health economic modelling. We hypothesise that a routine invasive approach in patients with NSTE-ACS with prior CABG is not superior to a non-invasive approach with optimal medical therapy. Methods and analysis 60 patients will be enrolled in a randomised clinical trial in 4 hospitals. A screening log will be prospectively completed. Patients not randomised due to lack of eligibility criteria and/or patient or physician preference and who give consent will be included in a registry. We will gather information about screening, enrolment, eligibility, randomisation, patient characteristics and adverse events (including post-discharge). The primary efficacy outcome is the composite of all-cause mortality, rehospitalisation for refractory ischaemia/angina, myocardial infarction and hospitalisation for heart failure. The primary safety outcome is the composite of bleeding, stroke, procedure-related myocardial infarction and worsening renal function. Health status will be assessed using EuroQol 5 Dimensions (EQ-5D) assessed at baseline and 6 monthly intervals, for at least 18 months. Trial registration number NCT01895751 (ClinicalTrials.gov). PMID:27110377

Described is the commentary concerning normative action of medical staff at radiation emergency and actual actions taken/to be taken for the Nuclear Power Plant Accident (NPPA) in Fukushima. The normative medical staff's action at radiation emergency is essentially based on rules defined by such international authorities as United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), International Commission of Radiological Protection (ICRP), International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Basic Safety Standard (BSS) and by network in IAEA, World Health Organization (WHO) and so on. The rules stand on past atomic events like those in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Three Mile Isl., Chernobyl, and in Japanese Tokai JCO accident. The action above is required as a medical teamwork over specialized doctors. At Fukushima NPPA, medicare flowed from the on-site first-aid station (doctors for industry and labors), then the base for patient transfer (doctors of Japanese Association of Acute Medicine and Tokyo Electric Power Comp.), to the primary hospital for acute exposure (Iwaki Kyoritsu Hos.), from which patients were further transported to the secondary (contamination detected or severe trauma, Fukushima Medical Univ.) and/or tertiary facilities (serious contamination or acute radiation injury, National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS) and Hiroshima Univ.). The flow was built up by the previous lead of national official guidance and by urgent spontaneous network among medical facilities; exempli gratia (e.g.), Fukushima Medical Univ. rapidly specialized in coping with the radiation medicare by partial discontinuance of daily clinical practice. Specialists of acute radiation medicare are generally rare, for which measures for it are more desirable along with health risk communication in facilities concerned. The professional function and endowment required for medical staff at emergency are concluded to be their guts and devotion as well as medical

The second part of this paper provides those who care for orthopaedic patients with evidence-supported international perspectives about acute nursing care of the older adult with fragility hip fracture. Developed by an international group of nurse experts and guided by a range of information from...... research and clinical practice, it focuses on nurse sensitive quality indicators during the acutehospitalisation for fragility hip fracture. Optimal care for the patient who has experienced such a fracture is the focus. This includes (in the first, earlier, part):. Pain. Delirium. and in this part....... Pressure Ulcers. Fluid Balance/Nutrition. Constipation/Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infection. Vigilant nursing assessment and prompt intervention may prevent the development of the complications we discuss. If they do occur and are identified early on, they may resolve with appropriate and timely...

The Medical Research Council UKALL V trial for children with standard-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) (aged 1 to 14 years, leucocyte count less than 20 X 10(9)/L) was designed to determine whether the immunosuppressive effects of treatment could be reduced without sacrifice of antileukemic effect by alterations in the type of continuing therapy or in fractionation of cranial irradiation. Remission was achieved in 496 children on standard induction therapy, and 309 children received 24 Gy of cranial irradiation in ten to 16 fractions over 21 days, and 174 received 21 Gy in five to nine fractions over 21 days. The type of radiotherapy administered had no influence on relapse at any site or rate of death in remission. All 496 children were randomized to receive chemotherapy for 2 or 3 years with 6-mercaptopurine and methotrexate either as a continuous (group C) or a semicontinuous (group G) regimen or as a five-day pulse every 3 weeks (group I). All groups also received vincristine and prednisolone every 6 weeks. With a minimum follow-up of almost 7 years, patients in group I had significantly fewer remission deaths (P = .025) but a much higher rate of bone marrow relapse than those in group C or G (P = .002). There was an overall benefit for 3 years of chemotherapy compared with 2 years, which in contrast to previous studies, was more apparent in girls and in patients in groups C and G. Testicular relapse occurred in 37 boys, including 19 patients off therapy, with a previously negative biopsy. The overall results confirmed the prognostic significance of initial leucocyte count, even among these standard-risk patients, while girls had a superior rate of disease-free survival, but not of hematologic remission. It is concluded that, even among standard-risk patients, the prognosis is influenced by the height of the initial leukocyte count. While alterations in the fractionation of cranial irradiation do not appear to have influenced disease-free survival

Abstract Acute severe asthma is one of the most common medical emergency situations in childhood, and physicians caring for acutely ill children are regularly faced with this condition. In this article we present a summary of the pathophysiology as well as guidelines for the treatment of acute severe asthma in children. The cornerstones of the management of acute asthma in children are rapid administration of oxygen, inhalations with bronchodilators and systemic corticosteroids. Inhaled bronc...

Background With 16,005 new cases and 5,406 related deaths in 2005, France is particularly concerned by Head and Neck (H&N) cancers. In addition to tobacco and alcohol, Human Papillomavirus (HPV) has been reported as a risk factor for H&N cancers. The literature on the burden of these cancers in Europe is scarce. This study was performed to assess the medical and economical burden of hospitalisations for H&N cancers in France. Methods The French national hospital database (PMSI), in which admi...

Editors' Summary Background Erectile dysfunction is the medical term used when a man is unable to achieve or sustain an erection of his penis suitable for sexual intercourse. Although a sensitive topic that can cause much embarrassment and distress, erectile dysfunction is very common, with an estimated 40% of men over the age of 40 years experiencing frequent or occasional difficulties. The most common causes of erectile dysfunction are medications, chronic illnesses such as diabetes, and dr...

Introduction In September 2009, as part of the surveillance during the Influenza A(2009) pandemic, Bel-gium introduced a web-based surveillance system aimed at recording hospitalisations and deaths attributable to Influenza in real time. Methods We present the web-based application developed for the pandemic as well as a descriptive analysis of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) cases reported through this system. Results From 1 September to 31 December 2009, 1723 SARI-related hospitalisations potentially due to influenza were reported in Belgium. The median age of the patients was 29 years (range: < 1 year-99 years). Among SARI-hospitalised patients 68% were aged less than 45 years, 10.6% were vaccinated with the seasonal influenza vaccine and 7.5% with the pandemic influenza vaccine. No deaths were recorded. Conclusions This first experience showed the feasibility of getting real-time information from hospitals during a public health crisis. However, the absence of death detected through the system highlighted the importance of better defining the severity of the hospital cases.

Modern therapy for childhood acute leukemia has provided a dramatically improved prognosis over that of just 30 years ago. In the early 1960's survival rates for acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) and acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) were 4% and 3%, respectively. By the 1980's survival rates had risen to 72% for all and 25% to 40% for AML. Today, a diagnosis of all carries an 80% survival rate and as high as a 90% survival rate for some low-risk subtypes. Such high cure rates depend on intense and complex, multimodal therapeutic protocols. Therefore, nursing care of the child with acute leukemia must meet the demands of complicated medical therapies and balance those with the needs of a sick child and their concerned family. An understanding of disease process and principles of medical management guide appropriate and effective nursing interventions. Leukemia is a malignant disorder of the blood and blood- forming organs (bone marrow, lymph nodes and spleen). Most believe that acute leukemia results from a malignant transformation of a single early haematopoietic stem cell that is capable of indefinite self-renewal. These immature cells of blasts do not respond to normal physiologic stimuli for differentiation and gradually become the predominant cell in the bone marrow

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control have highlighted the importance of establishing systems to monitor severe influenza. Following the H1N1 (2009 influenza pandemic, a sentinel network of 23 Trusts, the UK Severe Influenza Surveillance System (USISS, was established to monitor hospitalisations due to confirmed seasonal influenza in England. This article presents the results of the first season of operation of USISS in 2010/11. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A case was defined as a person hospitalised with confirmed influenza of any type. Weekly aggregate numbers of hospitalised influenza cases, broken down by flu type and level of care, were submitted by participating Trusts. Cases in 2010/11 were compared to cases during the 2009 pandemic in hospitals with available surveillance data for both time periods (n = 19. An unexpected resurgence in seasonal A/H1N1 (2009 influenza activity in England was observed in December 2010 with reports of severe disease. Reported cases over the period of 4 October 2010 to 13 February 2011 were mostly due to influenza A/H1N1 (2009. One thousand and seventy-one cases of influenza A/H1N1 (2009 occurred over this period compared to 409 at the same Trusts over the 2009/10 pandemic period (1 April 2009 to 6 January 2010. Median age of influenza A/H1N1 (2009 cases in 2010/11 was 35 years, compared with 20 years during the pandemic (p = <0.0001. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The Health Protection Agency successfully established a sentinel surveillance system for severe influenza in 2010/11, detecting a rise in influenza cases mirroring other surveillance indicators. The data indicate an upward shift in the age-distribution of influenza A/H1N1 (2009 during the 2010/11 influenza season as compared to the 2009/10 pandemic. Systems to enable the ongoing surveillance of severe influenza will be a key component in understanding and responding to the evolving

Chernobyl reactor accident on 26th April, 1986 is by far the worst radiation accident in the history of the nuclear industry. Nearly 500 plant personnel and rescue workers received doses varying from 1-16 Gy. Acute radiation syndrome (ARS) was seen only in the plant personnel. 499 individuals were screened for ARS symptoms like nausea, vomitting, diarrhoea and fever. Complete blood examination was done which showed initial granulocytosis followed by granulocytopenia and lymphocytopenia. Cytogenetic examinations were confirmatory in classifying the patients on the basis of the doses received. Two hundred and thirty seven cases of ARS were hospitalised in the first 24-36 hrs. No member of general public suffered from ARS. There were two immediate deaths and subsequently 28 died in hospital and one of the cases died due to myocardial infarction, making a total of 31 deaths. The majority of fatal cases had whole body doses of about 6 Gy, besides extensive skin burns. Two cases of radiation burns had thermal burns also. Treatment of ARS consisted of isolation, barrier nursing, replacement therapy with fluid electrolytes, platelets and RBC transfusions and antibiotic therapy for bacterial, fungal and viral infections. Bone marrow transplantations were given to 13 cases out of which 11 died due to various causes. Radiation burns due to beta, gamma radiations were seen in 56 cases and treated with dressings, surgical excision, skin grafting and amputation. Oropharangeal syndrome, producing extensive mucous in the oropharynx, was first seen in Chernobyl. The patients were treated with saline wash of the mouth. The patients who had radioactive contamination due to radioactive iodine were given stable iodine, following wash with soap, water and monitored. Fourteen survivors died subsequently due to other causes. Late health effects seen so far include excess of thyroid cancer in the children and psychological disorders due to stress. No excess leukemia has been reported so

Background Contrast medium used for radiologic tests can decrease renal function. However there have been few studies on contrast-associated acute kidney injury in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. The objective of this study was to evaluate the incidence, characteristics, and outcome of contrast-associated acute kidney injury (CA-AKI) patients using the Risk, Injury, Failure, Loss, and End-stage kidney disease (RIFLE) criteria in critically ill patients in the ICU. Methods We conducted a r...

Objectives: Poor appetite is commonly reported by older people but is rarely measured. The Simplified Nutritional Appetite Questionnaire (SNAQ) was validated to predict weight loss in community dwelling older adults but has been little used in hospitals. We evaluated it in older women on admission to hospital and examined associations with healthcare outcomes. Design: Longitudinal observational with follow- up at six months. Setting: Female acute Medicine for Older People wards at a U...

Acute tubulointerstitial nephritis (TIN) is a frequent cause of acute renal failure, characterised by the presence of inflammatory cell infiltrate in the interstitium of the kidney. Immuno-allergic reaction to certain medications, mainly non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics are by far the most important etiology for TIN today, but other situations such as infections, toxins, and vasculitis are known to induce TIN. Incidence of TIN is increasing, probably due to prescription habits and NSAID overuse, representing 3-7% of acute kidney injury in biopsies in children. Avoidance of the causal substance and rapid steroid therapy are hallmarks for patient care, but spontaneous initial recovery is very frequent and the general prognosis seems satisfactory. However, development of chronic TIN, without response to steroid or other immunosuppressive treatment, is possible. As the largest part of TIN is secondary to certain drugs, clear indications in particular for NSAID or antibiotics should be respected to reduce the number of TIN cases. PMID:21638156

Full Text Available Contact tracing, to identify source cases with untreated tuberculosis (TB, is rarely performed in high disease burden settings when the index case is a young child with TB. As TB is strongly associated with HIV infection in these settings, we used source case investigation to determine the prevalence of undiagnosed TB and HIV in the caregivers and household contacts of hospitalised young children diagnosed with TB in South Africa.Caregivers and household contacts of 576 young children (age ≤7 years with TB diagnosed between May 2010 and August 2012 were screened for TB and HIV. The primary outcome was the detection of laboratory-confirmed, newly-diagnosed TB disease and/or HIV-infection in close contacts.Of 576 caregivers, 301 (52·3% self-reported HIV-positivity. Newly-diagnosed HIV infection was detected in 63 (22·9% of the remaining 275 caregivers who self-reported an unknown or negative HIV status. Screening identified 133 (23·1% caregivers eligible for immediate anti-retroviral therapy (ART. Newly-diagnosed TB disease was detected in 23 (4·0% caregivers. In non-caregiver household contacts (n = 1341, the prevalence of newly-diagnosed HIV infection and TB disease was 10·0% and 3·2% respectively. On average, screening contacts of every nine children with TB resulted in the identification of one case of newly-diagnosed TB disease, three cases of newly diagnosed HIV-infection, and three HIV-infected persons eligible for ART.In high burden countries, source case investigation yields high rates of previously undiagnosed HIV and TB infection in the close contacts of hospitalised young children diagnosed with TB. Furthermore, integrated screening identifies many individuals who are eligible for immediate ART. Similar studies, with costing analyses, should be undertaken in other high burden settings-integrated source case investigation for TB and HIV should be routinely undertaken if our findings are confirmed.

... and authentic illustrations used in the publication of medical books, journals, films, videotapes, exhibits, posters, wall charts, and computer programs. A medical illustrator may also work as a member of ...

Purpose: To examine philosophical stances underpinning medical identity and assess the conceptual relationship between physician, medical practice and culture. Argument: Medical identity is about the ideals and moral positions that physicians take when justifying themselves. Medical identity is the...... hedonistic versus sentimentalist approaches to medical identity. The sociocultural philosophical analysis of medical identity can shed light on what it means conceptually for a physician to harbor beliefs associated with him/her being taken to be an autonomous professional. It is important because it touches...... on the meaning of being a compassionate, good and skilled physician, making its relevance to person-centered medicine self-evident. Conclusion: Medical identity should be analyzed with reference to literature, philosophy and medical practice in order for the physician to exercise a reflective...

Full Text Available ABSTRACT. BACKGROUND: Fever is a burning issue in the tropics and the mos t common cause of morbidity. Quite frequently this fever goes undi agnosed because of many reasons like the lack of diagnostic facilities, insufficient epidemi ological data available on causes of fever, and so on. This research study was aimed to find out the e tiology and clinical markers of Acute Undifferentiated Febrile Illness [AUFI] among the r ural population of Southern India. METHODOLOGY: This prospective, observational study was conducted at Government Villupuram Medical College and Hospital, a rural ter tiary care centre in Tamil Nadu, India. Consecutive hospitalised adult patients [>16 years] with AUFI[5-14 days fever] were enrolled into the study from August 2010 to February 2012 [1 8 months].Upon enrollment, detailed history was recorded, physical examination done and basic blood tests including biochemical examination, smear study for malaria, blood culture s and serology for the commonly encountered infections were done according to study protocol. The patients were followed up until clinical recovery and convalescence. The data were entered in MS excel and analyzed using Epi-info software 2008 version. RESULTS: A total of 403 patients were included in the study . The distribution of AUFI included Malaria 133[33%], Typhoid 83[20.59%], Dengue 42[10.4%], Leptospirosis 25[6.2%], and other causes 36[8.9%] and unknown cause 84[20.84%]. Malaria patients were significantly associated with jaundice , altered mentation, travel outside the district, elevated AST/ALT levels, thrombocytopenia and splenomegaly. Typhoid fever was associated with longer fever duration, abdominal pai n, coated tongue, relative bradycardia, normal platelet counts and low leucocyte count. Deng ue fever could be predicted by rash, pruritis, petechiae ,retro-orbital pain and low platele t counts. Leptospirosis patients showed significant association with conjunctival suffusion , muscle

Abstract Background Since 9% to 20% of all cases of acute psychosis presenting to an Emergency Department (ED) are due to a general medical condition, cautious medical workup should be mandatory in such patients. Differential diagnosis must consider conditions as diverse as renal failure or CNS infection. Acute Chlamydia pneumoniae infection usually causes a self-limited respiratory syndrome. Rarely, acute neurological complications occur, with acute meningoencephalitis most frequently report...

Full Text Available The demographic and health profile and anthropometry of 106 young children hospitalised with acute diarrhoea during winter at the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town, is reported. Information regarding socio-economic status, feeding practices and mothers' knowledge/perceptions about the aetiology of diarrhoea and the use of Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT was collected on a predetermined questionnaire in English or Xhosa. The findings underline the need for an aggressive, well-targeted education programme to reduce the morbidity and mortality of vulnerable children as well as the financial drain on the hospital budget.

Full Text Available The past few years have witnessed a tremendous progress in our knowledge regarding the pathogenesis, diagnosis, prognostic evaluation and classification of acute pancreatitis. The role of ischemia, lysosomal enzymes, oxygen free radicals, polymorphnuclear cells-byproducts and inflammatory mediators in the pathogenesis of pancreatic necrosis and multiple organ failure has been emphasized. Furthermore, the recent knowledge about agents infecting pancreatic necrosis, routes of infection, bacteriological examination of fine needle aspirate and appropriate antibiotics have changed the concept of acute pancreatitis. New diagnostic tests such as rapid urinary trypsinogen-2 test and inflammatory mediators including polymorphnuclear elastase, C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 contribute to early diagnosis, prognostic evaluation and initiation of an appropriate therapy.

Objective Non-pharmacological approaches to pain management have been used by therapists for decades to reduce the anxiety and pain experienced by children during burn care procedures. With a greater understanding of pain and the principles behind what causes a child to be distracted, com-bined with access to state of the art technology, we have developed an easy to use, hand held multimodal distraction device (MMD). MMD is an interactive device that prepares the child for a procedure and uses developmentally appropriate distraction stories and games during the procedures to alleviate anxiety and pain. This paper summarizes the results of three randomized control trials. The trials aimed to understand the effec-tiveness of MMD as a distraction and preparation tool in reducing anxiety and pain in children undergoing burns and non-burns medical procedures compared to pure pharmacological approaches Standard Distraction (SD) and off the shelf video games (VG). Methods Three separate prospective randomized control tri-als involving 182 children having 354 dressing changes were conducted in the burns and orthopedic depart-ments at Royal Children's Hospital, Brisbane, Australia, to address the above aims. Pain and anxiety scores were completed for the child, caregivcr and nursing staff according to the Modified Faces, Legs, Activity, Cry and Consolability Scale, Faces Pain Scale-Revised, Visual Analogue Scale and Wong-Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale. Procedural length was recorded. Results MMD as a preparation and distraction tool were shown to have a significant impact on child, parent and nursing staff reported anxiety and pain daring proce-dures compared to standard care and video games (P<0.01). The MMD had a positive effect on clinical time and was shown to sustain its impact on pain and time with further dressing changes. Conclusions MMD is more effective in reducing the pain and anxiety experienced by children in acutemedical procedures as compared with SD and VG

Bacteriological diagnosis is rarely achieved in acute cellulitis. Beta-haemolytic streptococci and Staphylococcus aureus are considered the main pathogens. The role of the latter is, however, unclear in cases of non-suppurative cellulitis. We conducted a serological study to investigate the bacterial aetiology of acute non-necrotising cellulitis. Anti-streptolysin O (ASO), anti-deoxyribonuclease B (ADN) and anti-staphylolysin (ASTA) titres were measured from acute and convalescent phase sera of 77 patients hospitalised because of acute bacterial non-necrotising cellulitis and from the serum samples of 89 control subjects matched for age and sex. Antibiotic treatment decisions were also reviewed. Streptococcal serology was positive in 53 (69%) of the 77 cases. Furthermore, ten cases without serological evidence of streptococcal infection were successfully treated with penicillin. Positive ASO and ADN titres were detected in ten (11%) and three (3%) of the 89 controls, respectively, and ASTA was elevated in three patients and 11 controls. Our findings suggest that acute non-necrotising cellulitis without pus formation is mostly of streptococcal origin and that penicillin can be used as the first-line therapy for most patients. PMID:25403372

Acute viral bronchiolitis is one of the most common medical emergency situations in infancy, and physicians caring for acutely ill children will regularly be faced with this condition. In this article we present a summary of the epidemiology, pathophysiology and diagnosis, and focus on guidelines for the treatment of bronchiolitis in infants. The cornerstones of the management of viral bronchiolitis are the administration of oxygen and appropriate fluid therapy, and overall a “min...

Brachial neuritis following vaccination is an uncommon but clinically important presentation of severe shoulder and arm pain associated with globally reduced range of movement. It may be confused with the more common diagnoses of rotator cuff pathology, adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder), shoulder arthritis or cervical spondylosis. We present a case of acute brachial neuritis, which posed a clinical diagnostic challenge to emergency, acutemedical and rheumatology clinicians.

Objectives: To construct and internally validate a risk score, the '80+ score', for revisits to hospital and mortality for older patients, incorporating aspects of pharmacotherapy. Our secondary aim was to compare the discriminatory ability of the score with that of three validated tools for measuring inappropriate prescribing: Screening Tool of Older Person's Prescriptions (STOPP), Screening Tool to Alert doctors to Right Treatment (START) and Medication Appropriateness Index (MAI). Setting:...

Acute gastrointestinal bleeding is a common major emergency (Internal medical or gastroenterological or medical), approximately 85 % of which occur in the upper GI tract. It is estimated that about a half of upper GI bleeds are caused by peptic ulcers. Upper GI bleeds are associated with more severe bleeding and poorer outcomes when compared to middle or lower GI bleeds. Prognostic determinants include bleeding intensity, patient age, comorbid conditions and the concomitant use of anticoagulants. A focused medical history can offer insight into the bleeding intensity, location and potential cause (along with early risk stratification). Initial measures should focus on rapid assessment and resuscitation of unstable patients. The oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (OGD) is the gold standard method for localizing the source of bleeding and for interventional therapy. Bleeding as a result of peptic ulcers is treated endoscopically with mechanical and / or thermal techniques in combination with proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy. When variceal bleeding is suspected, pre-interventional use of vasopressin analogues and antibiotic therapies are recommended. Endoscopically, the first line treatment of esophageal varices is endoscopic ligature therapy, whereas that for gastric varices is the use of Histoacryl injection sclerotherapy. When persistent and continued massive hemorrhage occurs in a patient with known or suspected aortic disease the possibility of an aorto-enteric fistula must be considered. PMID:27078246

Background: The estimated incidence of antibiotic induced acute liver injury (ALI) varies widely, depending on the case definition and source population used. Objectives: We aimed to compare the risk of ALI associated with exposure to any type of antibiotic in a Spanish and United Kingdom (UK) datab

Full Text Available Abstract Background The aim of this study, conducted in Europe, was to develop a validated risk factor based model to predict RSV-related hospitalisation in premature infants born 33–35 weeks' gestational age (GA. Methods The predictive model was developed using risk factors captured in the Spanish FLIP dataset, a case-control study of 183 premature infants born between 33–35 weeks' GA who were hospitalised with RSV, and 371 age-matched controls. The model was validated internally by 100-fold bootstrapping. Discriminant function analysis was used to analyse combinations of risk factors to predict RSV hospitalisation. Successive models were chosen that had the highest probability for discriminating between hospitalised and non-hospitalised infants. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC curves were plotted. Results An initial 15 variable model was produced with a discriminant function of 72% and an area under the ROC curve of 0.795. A step-wise reduction exercise, alongside recalculations of some variables, produced a final model consisting of 7 variables: birth ± 10 weeks of start of season, birth weight, breast feeding for ≤ 2 months, siblings ≥ 2 years, family members with atopy, family members with wheeze, and gender. The discrimination of this model was 71% and the area under the ROC curve was 0.791. At the 0.75 sensitivity intercept, the false positive fraction was 0.33. The 100-fold bootstrapping resulted in a mean discriminant function of 72% (standard deviation: 2.18 and a median area under the ROC curve of 0.785 (range: 0.768–0.790, indicating a good internal validation. The calculated NNT for intervention to treat all at risk patients with a 75% level of protection was 11.7 (95% confidence interval: 9.5–13.6. Conclusion A robust model based on seven risk factors was developed, which is able to predict which premature infants born between 33–35 weeks' GA are at highest risk of hospitalisation from RSV. The model could be

Gallium-67 citrate has been evaluated in six patients diagnosed to have acute pancreatitis based on clinical picture, urine and serum amylase level, Ultrasanography and CT scan findings. The diagnosis of acute pancreatitis was confirmed by gallium-67 scan in four patients (True positive). One of them showed evidence of acute cholecysitis and pancreatitis. No gallium uptake was detected in the region of pancreas in the other two (True negative). Repeated gallium scan in two of the true positive patients showed decreased gallium concentration in the pancreas in response to medical treatment. The scan became normal in one of these two after four weeks. We conclude that gallium-67 scintigraphy is useful to determine extent and severity of acute pancreatitis and in following the response to medical treatment. Gallium (67Ga) has been under utilised in acute pancreatitis. The aim of the present study is to find the value of gallium-67 scintigraphy in determining the extent and severity of acute pancreatitis at the initial diagnosis and for follow up of medically treated patients. (Author)

Although many clinical studies suggest the medical utility of marijuana for some conditions, the scientific evidence is weak. Many patients in California are self-medicating with marijuana, and physicians need data to assess the risks and benefits. The only reasonable solution to this problem is to encourage research on the medical effects of marijuana. The current regulatory system should be modified to remove barriers to clinical research with marijuana. The NIH panel has identified several...

This article reviews advances in the management of acute pancreatitis. Medical treatment has been primarily supportive for this diagnosis, and despite extensive research efforts, there are no pharmacologic therapies that improve prognosis. The current mainstay of management, notwithstanding the ongoing debate regarding the volume, fluid type, and rate of administration, is aggressive intravenous fluid resuscitation. Although antibiotics were used consistently for prophylaxis in severe acute pancreatitis to prevent infection, they are no longer used unless infection is documented. Enteral nutrition, especially in patients with severe acute pancreatitis, is considered a cornerstone in management of this disease. PMID:26895677

acute MI compared to fibrinolysis. Cardiogenic shock is still the leading cause of death in patients hospitalised for acute MI. There was no difference in mortality, with regards to treatment strategy in patients developing cardiogenic shock after the initial treatment.......BACKGROUND: It has been speculated that invasive revascularization prevents development of cardiogenic shock. Data from randomised trials comparing angioplasty with fibrinolysis on the development of cardiogenic shock are lacking. AIMS: To elucidate the effect of angioplasty on in......-hospital development of cardiogenic shock compared to fibrinolysis. To evaluate whether mortality in patients who develop cardiogenic shock after treatment is dependent on revascularization strategy. METHODS AND RESULTS: DANAMI-2 randomly assigned 1572 STEMI patients to fibrinolysis (782 patients) or angioplasty (790...

Objective:To observe the clinical effect of Stimson reduction method cooperate with Zhuang medicated thread moxibus-tion in treating adults with acute anterior dislocation of shoulder joint. Methods:36 cases of patients with Stimson reduction method are reset, and cooperate with Zhuang medicated thread moxibustion therapy in the treatment of intraoperative and postoperative. Re-sults:36 patients were all one-time success, with no use of anesthesia, patients were followed up for 6 months, the shoulder joint function of the patients recovered well, the total efficiency was 100%. Conclusion:Using Stimson reduction method cooperate with Zhuang medicated thread moxibustion in treating adults with acute anterior dislocation of shoulder joint is simple and effective, avoiding the use of anesthesia, and worth further clinical application.% 目的：观察Stimson复位法配合壮医药线点灸治疗青壮年急性肩关节前脱位的临床疗效。方法：对36例青壮年急性肩关节前脱位采用Stimson复位法进行复位，并在术中及术后配合患肩壮医药线点灸治疗。结果：36例患者全部一次性复位成功，无一例使用麻醉，随访半年，患者肩关节功能均恢复良好，总有效率100%。结论：采用Stimson复位法配合壮医药线点灸治疗青壮年急性肩关节前脱位操作方法简单，疗效肯定，避免了使用麻醉，值得临床进一步推广应用。

Acute abdomen may be connected with the injury of one of the internal organs, injury of large blood vessels, with the spreading of pains from some other area. It may also be a manifestation of systemic disease or poisoning. The main purposes of radiodiagnosis are: determination of the cause of clinical syndrome; determination of the localization and spreading of pathological changes in abdominal organs; finding out the character of complications. If the data of the ordinary roentgenological investiagtion and isn't complete, the computer tomography of abdominal and pelvic cavities is needed

Full Text Available The acute schistosomiasis is the toxemic disease that follow the Schistosoma cercariae active penetration trough screen in the immunologicaly naive vertebrate host. The clinical picture starts two to eight weeks after the first contact with the contaminated water. Susceptible patients present a syndrome comprising fever, diarrhea, toxemia and hepatosplenomegaly. Diagnosis is based on epidemiological and clinical features, presence of Schistosoma eggs in the feces, enlargement of abdominal lymph nodes by ultrasonography and by detection of high antibodies levels against the antigen keyhole limpet haemocyanin. Different rates of cure have been observed with specific medication and for the most severe clinical presentations the use of steroids reduces the systemic and allergic manifestations.

One element of the CIVCAL project Web-based resources containing images, tables, texts and associated data on the construction of the Medical Complex. This project covers the construction of a new Hong Kong University Medical Complex on Sassoon Road, Pokfulam. The complex will comprise two buildings, one will house laboratories and a car park, while the other will contain lecture halls

Background With 16,005 new cases and 5,406 related deaths in 2005, France is particularly concerned by Head and Neck (H&N) cancers. In addition to tobacco and alcohol, Human Papillomavirus (HPV) has been reported as a risk factor for H&N cancers. The literature on the burden of these cancers in Europe is scarce. This study was performed to assess the medical and economical burden of hospitalisations for H&N cancers in France. Methods The French national hospital database (PMSI), in which admissions to public and private hospitals are recorded, was retrospectively analysed to assess the annual number of patients hospitalised for H&N cancers and associated hospital costs from the healthcare payer perspective. ICD-10 codes (16 codes classified as oral cavity, oropharynx, pharynx, salivary glands and larynx) were used to extract admissions for these cancers. Hospital stays, chemotherapy and radiotherapy sessions were extracted to assess patients' management. Costs of admissions were obtained from French official tariffs. Results In 2007, there were 36 268 patients hospitalised for H&N cancers, of whom 81% were men, corresponding to 60 200 hospital stays and 287 846 sessions of chemo- or radio-therapy. Oropharynx cancer was the most frequent (28% of patients), followed by oral cavity cancer (25% of patients). The peak of frequency was observed in the 55-59 years age group. Patients were mainly treated in medicine (48%) and surgery (23%) units. Mean annual cost per patient ranged from €2 764 to €7 673 leading to a total hospital cost of €323 millions in 2007 (including hospitalization and expensive drugs). With 26% of H&N cancers attributable to HPV infections, 9 430 patients were hospitalized due to HPV-related H&N cancers, representing €138 million in 2007. Conclusion Even without taking into account the rehabilitation costs, the hospital burden of H&N cancers is considerable. PMID:20809978

Acute psychoses have been reported to occur more frequently in summer. This is a report of seasonal recurrence of acute psychosis in a patient. This case report emphasizes towards the biological etiology of acute psychoses.

Patient: Female, 73 Final Diagnosis: Drug induced acute hepatitis Symptoms: Abdominal pain • diarrhea • vomiting Medication: — Clinical Procedure: — Specialty: Gastroenterology and Hepatology Objective: Unusual or unexpected effect of treatment Background: The use of herbal medications to treat various diseases is on the rise. Cinnamon has been reported to improve glycolated hemoglobin and serum glucose levels. When patients consider the benefit of such substances, they are often not aware of...

Objective Acute scrotal conditions are a common clinical setting that present with pain and swelling of the hemiscrotum. The aim of our study has been to evaluate the findings in boys operated on acute scrotum. Methods A descriptive study was conducted on 100 patients with acute scrotum admitted to Mofid Children's Hospital from March 1993 to March 2007. Data included history, age, primary symptoms, definite diagnosis, side involvement, paraclinical tests, imaging modalities, medical or surgi...

Patients with acute psychosis often present to emergency departments. Management of acute agitation and psychosis can be a challenge for the staff. Medical stabilization, appropriate assessment, and diagnosis are important. Verbal de-escalation and other psychosocial interventions are helpful in creating a safe and therapeutic environment. Psychiatric and emergency room nurses are poised to treat patients presenting with acute psychosis and must be knowledgeable of evidence-based approaches to treat these complex disorders. PMID:27229275

Inflammation of the gallbladder without evidence of calculi is known as acute acalculous cholecystitis (AAC). AAC is frequently associated with gangrene, perforation, and empyema. Due to these associated complications, AAC can be associated with high morbidity and mortality. Medical or surgical treatments can be chosen according to the general condition of the patient, underlying disease and agent. Particularly in acute acalculous cholecystitis cases, early diagnosis and early medical treatme...

Background: Oral-facial clefts including cleft lip and palate are the most common congenital malformations of the head and neck. Environmental factors such as maternal hormonal disorders, use of psychiatric medications, vitamin and folic acid deficiency, hypoxia, cigarette smoking and maternal obesity and overweight can affect the incidence of these disorders. In Iran, one of the associated problems is a lack of accurate statistics regarding the present status of the patients, which can cause a disturbance in the health programmes of Ministry of Health and Medical Education. The aim of this study was to report the status of 398 cases of cleft lip and palate in Sheikh and Imam Reza Hospitals of Mashhad over a 10-year period. Materials and Methods: This retrospective descriptive study was performed using data collection method and included the evaluation of the recorded files and completing the data forms. In this study, the file records of 398 patients referring to Mashhad Sheikh and Imam Reza (P.U.H) Hospitals were studied, from the beginning of 2002 to the end of 2011; the obtained data from the files were collected and classified. Results: The highest frequency was related to cleft palate alone (40.7%); frequencies were lower regarding the cleft lip and palate and cleft lip alone (34.41% and 24.87%, respectively). Approximately, half of the patients were from rural areas of the city and had articulation disorders. Most of the patients were the first-born children of the family and their parents were consanguineously married; about one-third of the patients had a family history of the disease. Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, cleft lip is more frequent in males and cleft palate is more prevalent in females; the obtained results are consistent with the global statistics. PMID:26712297

Acute coronary syndromes among young adults are relatively low when compared with older population in the intensive care unit. Electrocardiographic abnormalities mimicking acute coronary syndromes may be caused by non-coronary syndromes and the differential diagnosis requires a detailed evaluation. We are reporting a case of myopericarditis presenting with acute ST elevation and elevated cardiac enzymes simulating acute coronary syndrome. In this case report, the literature is reviewed to dis...

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Drug-related adverse events remain an important cause of morbidity and mortality and impose huge burden on healthcare costs. Routinely collected electronic healthcare data give a good snapshot of how drugs are being used in 'real-world' settings. OBJECTIVE: To describe a strategy that identifies potentially drug-induced acute myocardial infarction (AMI from a large international healthcare data network. METHODS: Post-marketing safety surveillance was conducted in seven population-based healthcare databases in three countries (Denmark, Italy, and the Netherlands using anonymised demographic, clinical, and prescription/dispensing data representing 21,171,291 individuals with 154,474,063 person-years of follow-up in the period 1996-2010. Primary care physicians' medical records and administrative claims containing reimbursements for filled prescriptions, laboratory tests, and hospitalisations were evaluated using a three-tier triage system of detection, filtering, and substantiation that generated a list of drugs potentially associated with AMI. Outcome of interest was statistically significant increased risk of AMI during drug exposure that has not been previously described in current literature and is biologically plausible. RESULTS: Overall, 163 drugs were identified to be associated with increased risk of AMI during preliminary screening. Of these, 124 drugs were eliminated after adjustment for possible bias and confounding. With subsequent application of criteria for novelty and biological plausibility, association with AMI remained for nine drugs ('prime suspects': azithromycin; erythromycin; roxithromycin; metoclopramide; cisapride; domperidone; betamethasone; fluconazole; and megestrol acetate. LIMITATIONS: Although global health status, co-morbidities, and time-invariant factors were adjusted for, residual confounding cannot be ruled out. CONCLUSION: A strategy to identify potentially drug-induced AMI from electronic healthcare

The rehabilitation of older patients in Ireland after an acutemedical event occurs at dedicated onsite hospital units or at offsite centres. Information on medical complications and outcomes is inadequate.

Full Text Available Keisho Hirota1,2, Masayuki Akimoto1,3, Toshiaki Katsura21Department of Ophthalmology, Kyoto Medical Center, National Hospital Organization, 2Internal Medicine, Kyoto Medical Center, 3Clinical Research Center, Kyoto Medical Center, Kyoto, JapanPurpose: The report of a case of bilateral acute retinal necrosis after herpetic meningitis.Case report: A 47-year-old man was admitted with the chief complaint of persistent high fever and transient loss of consciousness. Although his general condition improved after intravenous acyclovir administration, the patient presented with visual loss in both eyes 4 days after admission. Visual acuity in his right eye was 20/200 and his left eye had light perception alone. Both eyes showed panretinal arteritis diagnosed as acute retinal necrosis. Panretinal photocoagulation was performed for both eyes. Progression of retinal detachment was prevented in both eyes; however, visual acuity of the left eye was totally lost because of neovascular glaucoma. Visual acuity of the right eye recovered to 20/20.Conclusion: Although cases of bilateral acute retinal necrosis have been reported after herpetic encephalitis, this condition is rare after herpetic meningitis. Prophylactic acyclovir therapy and early panretinal photocoagulation may prevent retinal detachment and improve the prognosis. Neurologists and ophthalmologists should be aware that not only herpetic encephalitis but also herpetic meningitis can lead to acute retinal necrosis within a very short interval.Keywords: acute retinal necrosis, herpetic meningitis, herpes simplex, varicella zoster virus

Abstract Introduction Transfusion-related acute lung injury is emerging as a common cause of transfusion-related adverse events. However, awareness about this entity in the medical fraternity is low and it, consequently, remains a very under-reported and often an under-diagnosed complication of transfusion therapy. Case presentation We report a case of a 46-year old woman who developed acute respiratory and hemodynamic instability following a single unit blood transfusion in the postoperative...

... for Medication For the treatment of heart failure Beta Blockers (Also known as Beta-Adrenergic Blocking Agents) Commonly ... have had a heart attack. Combined alpha and beta-blockers Combined alpha and beta-blockers are used as ...

... behavior, such as to reduce self-injury or aggression. Once a symptom is no longer a problem, ... of repetitive behaviors; decrease anxiety, irritability, tantrums, and aggressive behavior; and improve eye contact. Tricyclics These medications are ...

This didactical book presents the medical imaging techniques: radiography, scanner, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Examples are given for the most common pathologies in all domains of medicine. (J.S.)

Full Text Available Abstract Background Common cold is caused by a variety of respiratory viruses. The prevalence in children is high, and it potentially contributes to significant morbidity. Iota-carragenan, a polymer derived from red seaweed, has reduced viral load in nasal secretions and alleviated symptoms in adults with common cold. Methods We have assessed the antiviral and therapeutic activity of a nasal spray containing iota-carrageenan in children with acute symptoms of common cold. A cohort of 153 children between 1–18 years (mean age 5 years, displaying acute symptoms of common cold were randomly assigned to treatment with a nasal spray containing iota-carrageenan (0.12% as verum or 0.9% sodium chloride solution as placebo for seven days. Symptoms of common cold were recorded and the viral load of respiratory viruses in nasal secretions was determined at two consecutive visits. Results The results of the present study showed no significant difference between the iota carrageenan and the placebo group on the mean of TSS between study days 2–7. Secondary endpoints, such as reduced time to clearance of disease (7.6 vs 9.4 days; p = 0.038, reduction of viral load (p = 0.026, and lower incidence of secondary infections with other respiratory viruses (p = 0.046 indicated beneficial effects of iota-carrageenan in this population. The treatment was safe and well tolerated, with less side effects observed in the verum group compared to placebo. Conclusion In this study iota-carrageenan did not alleviate symptoms in children with acute symptoms of common cold, but significantly reduced viral load in nasal secretions that may have important implications for future studies. Trial registration ISRCTN52519535, http://www.controlled-trials.com/ISRCTN52519535/

This leaflet in the At-a-Glance Series describes the medical use of X-rays, how X-rays help in diagnosis, radiation protection of the patient, staff protection, how radioactive materials in nuclear medicine examinations help in diagnosis and the use of radiation in radiotherapy. Magnetic resonance imaging, a diagnostic technique involving no ionizing radiation, is also briefly examined. The role of the NRPB in the medical use of radiation is outlined. (UK)

Medical tourism is considered as one of the tourism dimensions and it can contribute to the stabilized and dynamic development of a country's economy. Since it is cost-effective industry, most developing countries have focused on this industry and they are planning to develop this industry. Not only does Zanjan province, as the central region in medicine services, enjoy different kinds of variety and acceptable medical specialties but also it has historical, natural, and religious tourism pot...

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: In recent years, efforts have been made to improve paediatric drug therapy. The aim of this research was to investigate any changes regarding the frequency and nature of adverse drug reactions (ADRs in hospitalized children in one paediatric general medical ward over a 9-year period. METHODOLOGY: Two prospective observational cohort studies were conducted at a large University hospital in Germany in 1999 and 2008, respectively. Children aged 0-18 years admitted to the study ward during the study periods were included. ADRs were identified using intensive chart review. Uni- and multivariable regression has been used for data analysis. RESULTS: A total of 520 patients (574 admissions were included [1999: n = 144 (167; 2008: n = 376 (407]. Patients received a total of 2053 drugs [median 3, interquartile range (IQR 2-5]. 19% of patients did not receive any medication. Median length of stay was 4 days (IQR 3-7; range 1-190 days with a significantly longer length of stay in 1999. The overall ADR incidence was 13.1% (95% CI, 9.8-16.3 varying significantly between the two study cohorts [1999: 21.9%, 95% CI, 14.7-29.0; 2008: 9.2%, 95% CI, 5.9-12.5 (p<0.001]. Antibacterials and corticosteroids for systemic use caused most of the ADRs in both cohorts (1999; 2008. Exposure to systemic antibacterials decreased from 62.9% to 43.5% whereas exposure to analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs increased from 17.4% to 45.2%, respectively. The use of high risk drugs decreased from 75% to 62.2%. In 1999, 45.7% and in 2008 96.2% of ADRs were identified by treating clinicians (p<0.001. CONCLUSIONS: Between 1999 and 2008, the incidence of ADRs decreased significantly. Improved treatment strategies and an increased awareness of ADRs by physicians are most likely to be the cause for this positive development. Nevertheless further research on ADRs particularly in primary care and the establishment of prospective pharmacovigilance systems are still

The activity of telavancin was evaluated against Staphylococcus spp. collected from European hospitals as part of an international surveillance study (2007-2008). A total of 7534 staphylococcal clinical isolates [5726 Staphylococcus aureus and 1808 coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS)] were included. Isolates were tested for susceptibility according to reference methods and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values were interpreted based on Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) 2010 and European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) 2009 criteria. Telavancin breakpoints approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were applied. Telavancin activity was evaluated against meticillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) displaying several antibiogram resistance patterns, including multidrug-resistant isolates. Telavancin was active against S. aureus [MIC(50/90) values (MICs for 50% and 90% of the isolates, respectively)=0.12/0.25mg/L; 100.0% susceptible] and CoNS (MIC(50/90)=0.12/0.25mg/L), inhibiting all isolates at quinupristin/dalfopristin, vancomycin and linezolid). Based upon MIC(90) values, telavancin demonstrated potent in vitro activity against a contemporary (2007-2008) collection of Staphylococcus spp. recovered from nearly 30 European medical centres. PMID:20598860

Full Text Available Abstract Introduction Transfusion-related acute lung injury is emerging as a common cause of transfusion-related adverse events. However, awareness about this entity in the medical fraternity is low and it, consequently, remains a very under-reported and often an under-diagnosed complication of transfusion therapy. Case presentation We report a case of a 46-year old woman who developed acute respiratory and hemodynamic instability following a single unit blood transfusion in the postoperative period. Investigation results were non-specific and a diagnosis of transfusion-related acute lung injury was made after excluding other possible causes of acute lung injury. She responded to symptomatic management with ventilatory and vasopressor support and recovered completely over the next 72 hours. Conclusion The diagnosis of transfusion-related acute lung injury relies on excluding other causes of acute pulmonary edema following transfusion, such as sepsis, volume overload, and cardiogenic pulmonary edema. All plasma containing blood products have been implicated in transfusion-related acute lung injury, with the majority being linked to whole blood, packed red blood cells, platelets, and fresh-frozen plasma. The pathogenesis of transfusion-related acute lung injury may be explained by a "two-hit" hypothesis, involving priming of the inflammatory machinery and then activation of this primed mechanism. Treatment is supportive, with prognosis being substantially better than for most other causes of acute lung injury.

Ritonavir therapy is not generally considered nephrotoxic. We report a case of acute kidney injury secondary to ritonavir, with kidney biopsy demonstrating extensive acute tubular injury. This is the first report of a kidney biopsy and pathology in acute kidney injury associated with ritonavir. A review of published medical literature on the topic is also presented.

Objective: To document the clinical presentation and epidemiology of various types of acute leukemia with their respective referral source at a tertiary level centre in Peshawar. Study Design: An observational study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Pathology, Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC), Peshawar, from January 2011 to May 2012. Methodology: A total of 618 bone marrow biopsy reports were reviewed. All biopsy reports labeled as acute leukemia were reviewed for age, gender, address, referring unit, diagnosis on bone marrow examination, presenting complaints, duration of illness and findings of clinical examination. Results: Ninety-two patients were diagnosed as suffering from acute leukemias (15%). ALL was most prevalent (46%), followed by AML (38%) and undifferentiated acute leukemia (16%). Males were affected more compared to females (60% vs. 40%). ALL and AML were predominant in pediatric (64%) and adults (77%) patients respectively. Patients from Afghanistan accounted for 33% of all cases followed by Peshawar (14%). Fever (77%), pallor (33%) and bleeding disorders (23%) were the main presenting complaints. Enlargement of liver, spleen and lymph nodes together was associated with ALL compared with AML (p = 0.004). Conclusion: ALL-L1 and AML-M4 were the most common sub-types. Fever, pallor and bleeding disorders were the main presenting complaints. Enlargement of liver, spleen and lymph nodes was more frequently associated with ALL compared to AML. (author)

Optimum acute treatment of migraine requires prevention of headache as a top priority. Recognition of the multitude of migraine presentations, the frequency of total headache attacks, and number of days of headache disability are critical. Successful treatment requires excellent patient-clinician communication enhancing confidence and mutual trust based on patient needs and preferences. Optimum management of acute migraine nearly always requires pharmacologic treatment for rapid resolution. Migraine-specific triptans, dihydroergotamine, and several antiinflammatories have substantial empirical clinical efficacy. Older nonspecific drugs, particularly butalbital and opioids, contribute to medication overuse headache and are to be avoided. Clinicians should utilize evidence-based acute migraine-specific therapy stressing the imperative acute treatment goal of early intervention, but not too often with the correct drug, formulation, and dose. This therapy needs to provide cost-effective fast results, meaningful to the patient while minimizing the need for additional drugs. Migraine-ACT evaluates 2-hour pain freedom with return to normal function, comfort with treatment, and consistency of response. Employ a thoroughly educated patient, formulary, testimonials, stratification, and rational cotherapy against the race to central sensitization for optimum outcomes. PMID:20352584

Introduction: There is acute shortage of teachers in medical field and very few new members are joining this noble profession. The shortage of medical teachers is resulting in decrease of teaching quality, decrease in number of medical seats and the country is losing its education standard worldwide.Aims: To find out the view and inclination of undergraduate medical students towards teaching as career.Objectives: It is an attempt to find possible reasons preventing or stimulating the undergra...

Full Text Available Trastuzumab is a monoclonal antibody highly effective in the treatment of several cancers, but its use is associated with cardiac toxicity which usually responds to cessation of the drug and/or medical therapy. We present an unusual case of acute cardiac toxicity temporally related to administration of trastuzumab in which the clinical presentation suggested an acute coronary syndrome. Coronary angiography, however, demonstrated minimal epicardial disease, but new wall motion abnormalities. Furthermore, the patient did not respond to withdrawal of the drug or medical therapy for heart failure.

Acute radiation syndrome affects military personnel and civilians following the uncontrolled dispersal of radiation, such as that caused by detonation of nuclear devices and inappropriate medical treatments. Therefore, there is a growing need for medical interventions that facilitate the improved recovery of victims and patients. One promising approach may be cell therapy, which, when appropriately implemented, may facilitate recovery from whole body injuries. This editorial highlights the current knowledge regarding the use of mesenchymal stem cells for the treatment of acute radiation syndrome, the benefits and limitations of which are under investigation. Establishing successful therapies for acute radiation syndrome may require using such a therapeutic approach in addition to conventional approaches. PMID:27182446

The purpose is to analyse differences in mortality among patients with major depressive disorders (MDD), bipolar-II (BP-II), bipolar-I (BP-I) disorders and mania with or without minor depressive disorders and to identify risk factors of mortality. The sample represents all admissions for depression or mania over 5 years (1959-1963) to the Psychiatric Hospital of Zurich University, serving a large area. 403 patients were included and followed up every 5 years until 1985; thereafter, mortality data were collected repeatedly until 2009 when 352 (87 %) patients had died. Standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) were computed and survival analyses applied. With the exception of BP-II disorder, the three other diagnostic groups showed elevated SMRs. The group with mania had the highest SMR for cardiovascular deaths and the group with MDD the highest for deaths by suicide. Mortality was also high among patients with late-onset MDD. Across the diagnostic spectrum, we found differences in risk factors for mortality, such as a family history of suicides and personality type: more anxious patients with MDD lived longer, and among patients with BP disorders, more tense (aggressive) types had shorter lives. Long-term medication had a protective effect against mortality in patients with MDD during years 1-9 and in patients with BP disorders during years 1-19 after admission. We found marked differences in causes of death and risk factors between subgroups of mood disorders. For the purpose of further research, it would be recommendable to distinguish pure mania from bipolar disorders. PMID:23124773

The book first presents the anatomy and physiology of the abdomen and continues with chapters discussing clinical and laboratory aspects and a suitable order of diagnostic examinations with reference to the acute processes, explaining the diagnostic tools: ultrasonography, radiography including angiography and CT, tapping techniques and endoscopy together with their basic principles, examination techniques, and diagnosis. One chapter presents a complete survey of the processes involving the entire abdomen - as e.g. peritonitis, ileus, abdominal trauma, intraperitoneal hemorrage. This chapter profoundly discusses the diagnostics and therapies including emergency measures and surgery. Problems requiring consultation among varous specialists, in internal medicine, gynecology, urology, or pediatrics, are discussed in great detail. Information for the anesthetist is given for cases of emergency. More than one third of the book is devoted to organ-specific information, dicussing the pathogenesis, diagnostics, and therapy of the oesophagus, stomach, large and small intestine, bile ducts, pankreas, liver, spleen, and the abdominal vessels and the abdominal wall. (orig.) With 153 figs., 90 tabs

A prospective study was performed on the relationship of CT findings to the clinical course of 148 patients with acute pancreatitis. The type of pancreatic inflammation seen on CT was classified into six categories based on an overall assessment of size, contour and density of the gland, and peripancreatic abnormalities. The majority (94%) of patients in whom CT showed mild pancreatic changes (grades A, B and C) had two or less positive clinical indicaters of severe pancreatitis (Ranson's signs). In contrast, 92% of patients in whom CT showed more severe changes of pancreatitis (grades D, E or F) had three or more positive signs. The nine patients who died with pancreatitis-related complications were in grades D, E or F. We wish to draw attention to a CT appearance which we have called 'fat islets' (low density intrapancreatic or peripancreatic areas, the contents of which approach fat in attenuation values); there was a strong correlation between this appearance and subsequent infection. (author). 24 refs.; 7 figs.; 4 tabs

Exenatide is an incretin mimetic. It was approved by the federal drug authority in 2005 for the treatment of type-2 diabetes. Since it is a relatively new medicine clinicians have limited experience with regards to its side effects and safety profile. We report a 47 year old lady who presented with exenatide associated acute kidney injury. She had type-2 diabetes for 10 years with mild micro albuminuria and normal renal functions. She was also taking a stable dose of metformin, gliclazide, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor and diuretic for over a year and there was no history of any recent use of non-steroid anti-inflammatory medications. One week after starting exenatide, she developed severe vomiting, followed by hypotension. She presented with acute renal insufficiency and severe lactic acidosis and had to be dialyzed on emergency basis. To our knowledge this is probably the first case reported in the local United Arab Emirate (U.A.E) population. PMID:25672206

The issue of professional migration, however emotional it may have become, ought not to be regarded in moralizing terms. The history of western medicine is the history of migrating physicians. A doctor who moves from a locality to another to take up a new assignment there cannot be said to have "abandoned his patients". This emotional bond has become the victim of specialization and of depersonalization of medical services and not of medical migration, brain drain or otherwise. The primary reason for medical migration is not financial; the desire to migrate usually begins with the desire to learn. Professionals crave in the first line for professional satisfaction. The migration of medical manpower cannot be stopped with administrative measures and will not be stopped by exhortations and appeals, moralization and condemnations. Brain drain is a global phenomenon and has always been so. A country which loses its professionals, its doctors, should examine the social relationships within the profession and should investigate whether the opportunities for deriving professional satisfaction from everyday work exist or whether these have been thwarted by the hierarchy, conservatism, cronyism and the general lack of comprehension of what good medical care is about. PMID:11593497

Full Text Available Abstract Background Acute respiratory tract infections (ARTI are among the most frequent reasons for consultations in primary care. Although predominantly viral in origin, ARTI often lead to the prescription of antibiotics for ambulatory patients, mainly because it is difficult to distinguish between viral and bacterial infections. Unnecessary antibiotic use, however, is associated with increased drug expenditure, side effects and antibiotic resistance. A novel approach is to guide antibiotic therapy by procalcitonin (ProCT, since serum levels of ProCT are elevated in bacterial infections but remain lower in viral infections and inflammatory diseases. The aim of this trial is to compare a ProCT-guided antibiotic therapy with a standard approach based on evidence-based guidelines for patients with ARTI in primary care. Methods/Design This is a randomised controlled trial in primary care with an open intervention. Adult patients judged by their general practitioner (GP to need antibiotics for ARTI are randomised in equal numbers either to standard antibiotic therapy or to ProCT-guided antibiotic therapy. Patients are followed-up after 1 week by their GP and after 2 and 4 weeks by phone interviews carried out by medical students blinded to the goal of the trial. Exclusion criteria for patients are antibiotic use in the previous 28 days, psychiatric disorders or inability to give written informed consent, not being fluent in German, severe immunosuppression, intravenous drug use, cystic fibrosis, active tuberculosis, or need for immediate hospitalisation. The primary endpoint is days with restrictions from ARTI within 14 days after randomisation. Secondary outcomes are antibiotic use in terms of antibiotic prescription rate and duration of antibiotic treatment in days, days off work and days with side-effects from medication within 14 days, and relapse rate from the infection within 28 days after randomisation. Discussion We aim to include 600

Full Text Available Acute intermittent porphyria (AIP is a rare autosomal dominant disorder of heme biosynthesis in liver due to deficiency of porphobilinogen deaminase enzyme. Clinically, AIP is dominatedby a colicky type pain, which does not subside after taking usual analgesics. Additional frequent symptoms are vomiting, hypertension, peripheral neuropathy, seizures, depression, delirium and coma. This paper reported a case of a twenty-fi- ve-year-old female patient, who had undergone a period of six days between the first presentationto the medical department and the diagnosis confirmation. It has accentuated possible mistakes in symptomatic therapy administration as well as dangers of a delayed diagnosis.

Two fields of radiology, medical imaging and radiation therapy, are coded separately in medical fee system, and the health care statistics of 2003 shows that expenditure on the former was 5.2% of the whole medical cost and the latter 0.28%. Introduction of DPC, an abbreviation of Diagnostic Procedure Combination, was carried out in 2003, which was an essential reform of medical fee payment system that have been managed on fee-for-service base throughout, and 22% of beds for acute patients care are under the control of DPC payment in 2006. As medical imaging procedures are basically classified in inclusive payment in DPC system, their accurate statistics cannot be figured out because of the lack of description of individual procedures in DPC bills. Policy-making of medical economics will suffer a great loss from the deficiency of detailed data in published statistics. Important role in clinical diagnoses of CT and MR results an increase of fee paid for them up to more than half of total expenditure on medical imaging. So, dominant reduction of examination fee has been done for MR imaging, especially in 2002, to reduce the total cost of medical imaging. Follows could be featured as major topics of medical imaging in health insurance system, (a) fee is newly assigned for electronic handling of CT-and-MR images, and nuclear medicine, and (b) there is still a mismatch between actual payment and quality of medical facilities. As matters related to medical imaging, the followings should be stressed; (a) numbers of CT and MR units per population are dominantly high among OECD countries, but, those controlled by qualified radiologists are at the average level of those countries, (b) there is a big difference of MR examination quality among medical facilities, and (c) 76% of newly-installed high-end MR units are supplied by foreign industries. Hopefully, there will be an increase in the concern to medical fee payment system and health care cost because they possibly

Leases for medical space can have far-reaching (and sometimes unintentional) consequences for the future of the practice and the costs of the business. In order to prevent hardship and expense down the line, it is especially important to review the lease to make sure that it reflects the practice's goals, needs, and structure. This article provides a number of provisions that are especially crucial to review and negotiate when leasing medical space, including use restrictions, assignment and subleasing clauses, build-out terms, and legal compliance requirements. PMID:22594070

The use of accelerators for medical applications has evolved from initial experimentation to turn-key devices commonly operating in hospitals. New applications are continuously being developed around the world, and the hadrontherapy facilities of the newest generation are placed at the frontier between industrial production and advanced R&D. An introduction to the different medical application accelerators is followed by a description of the hadrontherapy facilities, with special emphasis on CNAO, and the report closes with a brief outlook on the future of this field.

62 out of 68 acute psychosis patients who were initially recruited from the Bikaner Centre in 1982 for the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) study on "phenomenology and natural history of acute psychosis" were assessed after completion of 10 years in 1992-93 on SCAAPS and PSE with the objective of studying the long term course and outcome of acute psychosis. The results show that 35 (56.45%) patients of acute brief episode of psychosis never had any psychotic illness during the course...

The activities of the novel β-lactam/non-β-lactam β-lactamase inhibitor combination ceftazidime/avibactam and comparators were evaluated against isolates from pneumonia in hospitalised patients including ventilated patients (PHP, pneumonia not designated as VABP; VABP, pneumonia in ventilated patients). Isolates were from the European-Mediterranean region (EuM), China and the USA collected in the SENTRY Antimicrobial Surveillance Program between 2009 and 2011 inclusive. A total of 2393 organisms from PHP were from the EuM, 888 from China and 3213 from the USA; from VABP patients there were 918, 97 and 692 organisms collected, respectively. Among Enterobacteriaceae from PHP, ceftazidime/avibactam MIC90 values against Escherichia coli ranged from 0.25-0.5mg/L and Klebsiella spp. MIC90 values were 0.5mg/L in each region. Among VABP isolates, MIC90 values for ceftazidime/avibactam against E. coli were 0.25mg/L; for Klebsiella spp. from VABP patients, MIC90 values were similar to those obtained against PHP isolates. The MIC of ceftazidime/avibactam was ≤8mg/L against 92-96% of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from PHP patients. Isolates of P. aeruginosa from VABP patients were of lower susceptibility to all antibacterial agents (e.g. depending on region, meropenem susceptibilities were 51.2-69.4% in contrast to 68.3-76.7% among PHP patients). However, ceftazidime/avibactam inhibited 79.2-95.4% of VABP isolates at an MIC of ≤8mg/L. Acinetobacter spp. were resistant to many agents and only rates of susceptibility to colistin were >90% across all regions both for PHP and VABP isolates. Ceftazidime/avibactam was generally active against a high proportion of isolates resistant to ceftazidime from PHP and VAPB patients. PMID:26920105

Full Text Available Seroepidemiological studies of tetanus in Africans have focused mainly on adults especially pregnant women and data on children are scarcely reported. We investigated the seroprevalence of protective immunity level, determined risk factors for non-protection against tetanus and evaluated the performance of Tetanos Quick Stick® (TQS among hospitalised children aged 1 to 9 years in Nigeria. Blood IgG antibody levels to tetanus was determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA in the laboratory and TQS (an immunochromatogrphic test at the bedside for 304 children admitted into emergency unit of a tertiary hospital in Ibadan Nigeria. Demographic information and vaccination history were also collected. TQS results were compared with anti-tetanus antibody measured by ELISA using seroprotection cut-off of 0.1 IU/ml. Seroprevalence of protective level of immunity against tetanus using ELISA and TQS methods was 44.7% and 45.4% respectively. Protective level of immunity increased as age increases. Of the seven potential factors assessed, male gender and being second or more position among mother’s children were independent predictors of non-protective level of immunity. Absence of history of recent tetanus toxoid injection was significantly associated with non-protective level of immunity in univariate analysis but not logistic regression model. The agreement between the ELISA and the TQS results was good with a k coefficient of 0.931. TQS sensitivity was, 95.7%, specificity 97.6%, positive predictive value 98.0% and negative predictive values 96.0%. This study showed that lack of protective immunity against tetanus is common; few demographic characteristics correctly predict non-protection and IgG antibody levels to tetanus was accurately detected by TQS.

The objective of this study was to characterize the acute clinical effects, laboratory findings, complications, and disposition of patients presenting to the hospital after abusing synthetic cathinone. We conducted a retrospective multicenter case series of patients with synthetic cathinone abuse by searching for the terms bath salts, MDPV, methylenedioxypyrovalerone, mephedrone, methcathinone, methylone, methedrone, and cathinone within the "agent" field of a national clinical toxicology database (ToxIC). The medical records of these patients were obtained and abstracted by investigators at each study site. Patients with confirmatory testing that identified a synthetic cathinone in either blood or urine were included in the series. Patients who had either an undetectable synthetic cathinone test or no confirmatory testing were excluded. A data abstraction sheet was used to obtain information on each patient. We entered data into an Excel spreadsheet and calculated descriptive statistics. We identified 23 patients with confirmed synthetic cathinone exposure--all were positive for methylenedioxyprovalerone (MDPV). Eighty-three percent were male and 74 % had recreational intent. The most common reported clinical effects were tachycardia (74 %), agitation (65 %), and sympathomimetic syndrome (65 %). Acidosis was the most common laboratory abnormality (43 %). Seventy-eight percent of patients were treated with benzodiazepines and 30 % were intubated. Ninety-six percent of patients were hospitalized and 87 % were admitted to the ICU. The majority (61 %) of patients was discharged home but 30 % required inpatient psychiatric care. There was one death in our series. The majority of patients presenting to the hospital after abusing MDPV have severe sympathomimetic findings requiring hospitalization. A number of these patients require inpatient psychiatric care after their acute presentation. PMID:25468313

Full Text Available Specific serotonin reuptake inhibitors have been linked with the occurrence of drug-induced parkinsonism, dystonia, dyskinesia, and akathisia. Here, we describe a patient with a diagnosis of emotionally unstable personality disorder and depression who developed severe mandibular dystonia with sertraline in the absence of concurrent prescription of medications, which have potential action on the dopaminergic system. This case highlights the need for clinicians to be aware of this alarming acute adverse effect with sertraline, which is conventionally considered to be well-tolerated and safe.

The report contains data on operational and emergency staff of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant who were exposed to radiation as a consequence of the reactor accident, the size of the doses received and consequences for health. 203 persons were found to have acute radiation sickness. Of the 22 patients suffering from an extremely severe degree of acute radiation sickness, 19 died. Of the 23 patients with severe bone marrow syndrome, 7 died. For the majority of patients, clinical recovery occurred toward the end of the second month following the accident. The main harmful factor for all victims was the relatively uniform gamma- and beta-radiation effect in a dosage exceeding 1 Gy and, in the case of 35 people exceeding 4 Gy. Radiation damage to wide areas of the skin was one of the main factors contributing to the overall severe condition of the patients, and was a determining factor in the main fatal complications. A preliminary evaluation of the use of some biochemical and immunological tests in the event of accidental exposure to radiation and the methods of treatment and preliminary assessment of their effectiveness are presented. Another part of the report contains data on the doses from radiation exposure to the population of the town of Pripyat' until the time of evacuation and to the population in the 30 km zone around Chernobyl' nuclear power plant and radiation consequences of the accident for the population of different regions in the European part of the USSR, especially the problems related to the contamination of food products. The last part of the report gives some data on the organization of medical examinations of the population from the region around the Chernobyl' plant and on the long-term programmes for the medical and biological monitoring of the population and personnel

We report a case of acute chylous ascites formation presenting as peritonitis (acute chylous peritonitis) in a patient suffering from acute pancreatitis due to hypertriglyceridemia and alcohol abuse. The development of chylous ascites is usually a chronic process mostly involving malignancy, trauma or surgery, and symptoms arise as a result of progressive abdominal distention. However, when accumulation of “chyle” occurs rapidly, the patient may present with signs of peritonitis. Preoperative...

Introduction Understanding factors affecting the time to recovery from acute mania is critical in the management of manic syndromes. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of HIV infection on time to recovery from acute mania. Methods We performed a retrospective study in which medical charts of individuals who were treated for acute mania were reviewed. Survival analysis with Cox regression models were used to compare time to recovery from an acute manic episode between human immu...